To Love Without Restraint
by Morpheus9
Summary: What if Ennis did leave with Jack after getting his divorce? Where would they go? What would happen? AU, WARNING: gay relationship of course, don't like it, don't read it
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own "Brokeback Mountain" or anything of that nature.

I wanted to change the story, so I did. This time Ennis does leave with Jack after he gets his divorce. AU of course.

WARNING: Gay relationship, sex all ready, don't like it, don't read it.

* * *

Jack Twist drove his truck up to Ennis's new house. We he had gotten word that Ennis's divorce had happened he had taken off work immediately, packed a bag, and gotten into the truck to make his way to Ennis's place. When he pulled up, Ennis was outside and about to get into his truck. Jack could see two girls sitting in the front of the truck who he assumed were Ennis's daughters. Ennis looked up and seemed to be cursing to himself as he recognized Jack. Jack didn't care. He hopped out of the truck and was relieved when Ennis willingly walked to him and embraced him tightly.

"I got your postcard," said Jack touching Ennis's face gently. Ennis pulled away suddenly and looked back to the two girls in the truck.

"These are my daughters, Alma Junior and Francine. Girls this is Jack Twist."

"Hi." said the two daughters simultaneously.

"Howdy girls," said Jack tipping his hat.

"Girls give me a minute, Jack and I need to talk." Ennis lead Jack into the house and shut the door back with a slam. Jack suddenly found himself slammed into the nearest wall and Ennis's lips giving him a crushing kiss.

"Jack fucking Twist," said Ennis with a growl under his breath.

"When I got your note, I thought we could get out of here, get a ranch together."

"What about your wife?"

"I'll get a divorce. We're barely anything to each other anymore."

"Jack, I have the girls for the rest of today. I missed last week and I need to make it up to them."

"I understand."

"I'm going to take them out to dinner tonight and then drop them off at their mom's." Ennis took a step back from Jack and rubbed his chin with the palm of his hand. Jack reached out and touched Ennis's face gently. This time Ennis didn't pull away. "Would it be all right with you if I left you here while I take them out to dinner? You can help yourself to anything in the fridge... plenty of beans." Jack smirked and leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching.

"It's fine by me Ennis. You go take care of your girls."

"We'll talk about this when I get back, all right?"

"Yeah, we'll talk." Ennis touched Jack's face and kissed him more gently this time. They embraced tightly and then Ennis walked out of the door without a word. He watched Ennis get into the truck and speak to the girls for a moment. Maybe he told them that Jack was getting something. Maybe that Jack was down on his luck and needed a hand. He didn't care. He was here now. He was in Ennis's house, and there was at least something of a chance to be with him.

At around nine that night Jack heard Ennis's car pull up in the gravel driveway. Jack was sucking down his second beer. He counted the steps that Ennis took up to the porch of his house. He heard the key turn in the door and watched the door open. Ennis looked up at Jack from under his hat.

"How are the girls?" Jack asked casually.

"They're fine. I got them home to their momma again." Ennis reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer for himself. "She's still sore at me for missing last week. When I told her that I was going up to visit you and go fishing she got even more sore. Started yelling at me."

"I'm sorry." Ennis shrugged in his usual manner.

"It's not like I'm ever going to live with her again. She's getting herself a new man anyway. He can deal with her." Ennis flopped down on the couch next to Jack. "Jack fucking Twist. I should have known you would show up once I sent that postcard."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know. I don't know what to do." Ennis drank down another gulp from his beer and sat in thought. "Winter is coming on soon."

"I have some money saved up. I want to buy that ranch up near Brokeback Mountain now. We can live there. Work the land. It could work."

"People might find out. We could get killed you know."

"Fuck Ennis, we'll be in the middle of no where. We'll lie. Say one of us is down on his luck. Say we're half brothers. Say anything. But if there's one thing I know, it's that I can't stay away from you much longer and live. Ennis, I can't stand how much I miss you sometimes. It hurts." Jack rubbed at his chest as if trying to staunch an invisible open wound. Ennis felt the same pain in his chest. He had done the same thing several times on lonely nights when he missed Jack the most. He leaned over against Jack's shoulder and snuggled into the nape of Jack's neck. Jack put an arm around Ennis's shoulders and sighed with relief at the contact Ennis was finally giving him. Ennis leaned down and kissed Jack's chest where he had been rubbing it. Jack closed his eyes and felt the pain in his heart ease. Ennis shakily rubbed Jack's neck and shoulder like he did the second night they were together.

"All right Jack, all right." Jack looked down at Ennis with confusion.

"What...?" he whispered half expecting this to be a dream.

"I said all right Jack," said Ennis lifting his head and looking straight into Jack's eyes. "In truth, I hate this place. I need a place to start over again. And starting over with you is as good as anything else." Jack half laughed half sobbed in relief. "Easy cowboy," said Ennis gently touching Jack's face. "Don't fall apart on me now."

"What would you care if I fell apart on you?"

"Because I might fall apart too." Jack's eyes filled with tears and hid his face in his hands and began to sob. Ennis gently wrapped his arms around his lover, held him tightly, and gently rocked him while quietly humming like he once did up on Brokeback. He felt tears sting the back of his eyes and felt them roll down his cheeks even as he hummed and tried to comfort Jack. When Jack looked up at him, they gently kissed each other. They dried the tears from each other's cheeks and Ennis kissed him more fiercely than before. He pulled Jack up from the couch with him and led him back into his small bed room. He slammed the door shut and that was when everything began to be like it was.

The two attacked each other the minute the door was closed. They pulled their clothes off of each other as quickly as they could. Ennis pushed Jack onto the bed and then crawled on top of him. They kissed and stroked each other and drove each other wild with their bodies being so close once again. Ennis didn't turn Jack on his stomach which was the surprising part. He pulled his lovers legs over his shoulders and dived into him while their eyes locked onto each other. No words were spoken, just gasps and moans of intense pleasure coursing through them. Ennis leaned down and kissed Jack roughly as he came inside his lover. The two held each other tightly through the shakes and didn't let go until the sun rose again in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback mountain, on and on.

Well, it's kind of a fluffy chapter right now. More content to come in the later chapters I promise.

WARNING: gay sex, you know who. :-)

* * *

Ennis walked into the tent to Jack sitting there in the dim light. He was gripping his hat tightly and shifting it around in his hand. He was nervous. He was so nervous. He wanted to be with Jack again that night, but he had no idea how to say that. He knelt down inside the tent and tried to make words come from his mouth. But one look at Jack and all words fled from his mind. Jack gently took away the hat that had been shielding Ennis from him. Jack touched his face. Ennis almost felt himself fall apart because he needed that touch so much but couldn't admit it. Then Jack kissed him for the first time. Ennis felt his world coming undone and he tried to hold the threads together. 

"It's all right," Jack whispered gently. "It's all right." Jack knew. He knew just by looking at Ennis exactly what he needed. Ennis felt half relieved and half terrified; relieved that he didn't have to say anything and terrified that he didn't have to say anything. How could someone know him that well after only a handful of days? "C'mere." Jack gently put an arm around him and pulled him down with him. Ennis rested his head on Jack's chest and heard the pounding of the other man's heart. He stroked the skin of Jack's neck and chest with a shaky and nervous hand. Jack kissed him on the forehead, and then kissed him on the lips again. Ennis shut his eyes and let go of the last few threads of his world. He didn't want it anymore if it didn't allow Jack. He felt Jack gently turn him onto his back and for the first time in his life he surrendered to someone. He relaxed as Jack kissed him. He didn't fight when Jack started to undress him. He didn't protest when Jack touched the most intimate parts of him. And then suddenly everything stopped. He looked up and saw Jack dissolving into the air.

"Jack!" he cried out. Jack just looked back at him with sad eyes. "Jack no! Jack please, come back!" But it was all ready too late. Jack was gone. "Jack!" he screamed out.

"I'm right here!" said a voice in his ear. Suddenly Ennis woke up in Jack's arms. He gripped the arms, the shoulders, the torso, and finally the face of his lover in an attempt to make sure that Jack was real. "It's all right," Jack whispered gently and running his fingers through Ennis's hair. "It's all right. I'm here. It's all right." Ennis choked back a sob and tried to believe Jack. He kept one hand on Jack's face and the other on Jack's shoulder as he slowly tried to calm down. "What's wrong?"

"I had a dream… a nightmare at the end."

"What happened?"

"It was that second night on Brokeback that we had. It was replaying just like before. Then, you started… disappearing. You just evaporated into the air, like morning mist in the heat of the sun. And you were gone. You were gone…" The fear came back and Ennis gripped Jack's shoulder tighter as if Jack was going to evaporate before him and he was willing himself to hold on tight enough that it wouldn't happen. "I didn't… know what to do… I just…"

"You were yelling in your sleep. That's why I woke up. But Ennis I'm right here. I'm not going to evaporate into the air. I'm here. I'm not leaving you. I can't live without you." Ennis tried to fight back the tears but they came anyway.

"Fuck you Jack Twist," he managed to choke out. "It's all because of you. Do you know that? That damn night… I gave up my world. Do you know that?"

"I know that Ennis. I gave up mine too." Jack finally closed the distance between them and kissed Ennis gently like he had done the first time they kissed. Ennis felt his world fall apart again. This time he didn't even hold onto to the last remaining threads. He didn't care. All he cared about was Jack. All he wanted was Jack. His world was Jack. And now he knew that he was Jack's world. When the kiss ended he couldn't hold back the tears anymore and began to sob in Jack's chest. Jack wrapped his arms tightly around Ennis and held him whispering over and over again, "It's all right. I'm here. I won't leave you." Even when the tears stopped they didn't leave each other's arms. They exchanged gentle kisses and gently caressed each other's skin for what seemed like endless hours.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" asked Jack at some point.

"It's Sunday," said Ennis kissing Jack's lips again. "I don't work until tomorrow." Jack shut his eyes and chuckled at himself. "I'm that good that you forgot what day it was?"

"Apparently," said Jack with a grin. Soon the both of them were laughing so hard they nearly cried again.

It was when Ennis's stomach growled that they finally left the bed in search of some food. They both walked around the house in pajama pants since they didn't intend on leaving the house for anything short of the apocalypse. Ennis made them scrambled eggs while Jack pulled out a couple of beers for themselves. He put the eggs on two plates and the two sat down at the table with their eggs and beer. The meal went by quietly. The two of them would look up at each other from time to time and smile at each other. When Jack was done, he took his plate to the sink and was washing it out when Ennis came up behind him and put his own plate in the sink. It was when Ennis didn't back away the Jack knew something was about to happen. Ennis gently ran his hands up and down Jack's back as he washed both his and Ennis's dishes. Jack was trying to ignore his lover's signals, but he could all ready feel the fire burning deep inside him.

"So, when are you going to buy that ranch up near Brokeback?" asked Ennis casually.

"I'm going to make a few phone calls tomorrow while you're gone," said Jack trying to keep his voice even. He turned off the water and leaned against the counter with both hands. "See how much they want for it. We may be living in a tent for a while. Then we can start building a house of our own I expect."

"I'd like that." Ennis's hands dropped to Jack's hips and gently pulled them back against the heat that was growing in his pants. Jack closed his eyes and started to loose control of his breathing. Ennis gently kissed the nape of his neck and Ennis's breath on his chest tickled. "We can build it nice. Maybe add on a few extra rooms for the girls and for your boy too." Ennis's hand reached around and gently brushed Jack's own heat. Jack gasped sharply at the contact and pushed back against Ennis a little harder. "Calm down cowboy," said Ennis calmly. "There's time. It's only eleven." Jack blinked at the clock on the wall and wondered at how it could be so early in the day. Ennis gently encircled Jack in his arms and gently pulled him away from the sink and into the bedroom. This time Ennis simply shut the door instead of slamming it. He slowly pulled down Jack's pajama pants and let him step out of them. Jack turned and looked at Ennis and could see all the desire he felt reflected in his lover's eyes. Ennis pushed off his own pants and then slowly walked to Jack. At first he just held him in a gentle embrace like they had been doing all morning. Ennis kissed the nape of his neck again. Then gently moved up his neck and finally kissed him on the lips. Jack let out a small whimper from the kiss and Ennis held him tighter.

"You intend on torturing me the rest of the day?" said Jack breathlessly. A slow smile crept across Ennis's face.

"Don't worry," said Ennis gently. Ennis walked away from Jack and lay down on his back on the bed. Jack blinked and stared in almost disbelief. He didn't even move until Ennis gestured to him. Jack slowly walked to the bed and sat down on the edge next to Ennis. Ennis reached up one hand and gently stroked Jack's cheek. Ennis sat up and kissed his lover soundly and pulled Jack down on top of him. Jack finally broke out of his daze and began to kiss Ennis with earnest. Ennis returned the kisses and gently caressed his back. When Jack finally couldn't stand anymore, he gently pushed into Ennis and watched his lover's expression shift from pain to comfort to rapture. His fingers interlaced with Ennis's and they stared at each other once again as they found home in each other's arms.

* * *

Hours later Ennis was lying in bed with Jack curled up asleep on his shoulder. He was calmly smoking a cigarette and listening to the rain falling on the roof. He guessed by the light from the window that it was around six or so. He thought about getting up to get dinner started, but he didn't want to leave the bed. He knew that getting up would wake Jack. He gently kissed Jack on the forehead and lit another cigarette. The lightening and thunder got more and more violent until there was a flash of light almost directly outside the window followed by an ear piercing clap of thunder directly over the house. Jack startled awake and looked around the room before looking back at Ennis. Ennis kissed Jack on the forehead and pulled him back down to lie on his chest. Jack settled on the familiar shoulder once again with a sigh of relief.

"Hey Ennis?" said Jack quietly.

"Hmm?"

"What do you want to raise on the ranch?"

"Not sheep." Jack smiled and chuckled.

"OK, not sheep. We could raise cattle if you like. I know how to handle those."

"Fine by me. We need to get a few horses."

"I know a guy. He has a pair of twins that he's raised since they were born. He could give us a good price."

"All right." He took one last drag off his cigarette before putting it out in the ash tray. His smoking hand now free he gently rubbed Jack's shoulder and began humming quietly.

"You keep doing that and I'm going to fall asleep again," said Jack in a whisper. Ennis didn't reply. He didn't have to. Jack didn't want to leave the safety of the bed any more than Ennis did. In the morning Ennis would go to work and Jack could start getting things into motion. For now, neither wanted to leave this world of peace and dark that existed between them.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain (even though I wish I did)

Some things getting done and some words said. Yeah, kind of fluffy chapter again.

Warning: gay boys, that is all ;-)

* * *

Jack slowly woke up the next morning alone in Ennis's bed. He blinked in the bright light of the day and looked around. He was about to call out for his lover when he saw a note on the pillow next to his.

_Gone to work. Be back soon._

So, Ennis wasn't a poet and he was probably never going to get a love note from him. But six simple words meant the world to him at that moment. He doubted that Ennis left notes like this for his wife when they were together. He picked up the note and held it in his hand like it was a precious relic that he feared would dissolve in a moment. He carefully hid away the note in his wallet and got dressed.

Ennis didn't have a phone of course so he drove up to the nearest pay phone and made his phone calls. With the money that he saved, the ranch and the twin horses were now theirs. His friend agreed to bring the horses down to Brokeback Mountain once they got down there. Jack was figuring it would be about two weeks before they were permanently living there. He promised to call again on the day that they left and moved up to the ranch. Once he was done with all of that he took a deep breath, swallowed, put in another quarter, and called Lureen. It was the phone call he had been planning out in his head since receiving Ennis's postcard. He calmly waited as the phone rang and was finally picked up by Lureen.

"Hi there Jack, how's Wyoming?" she said in her distracted voice that meant she was doing paper work.

"Lureen, put down the pen and take your hand off the calculator," he said. He heard the calculator stop tapping and the clink of a pen being put down.

"What is it Jack?"

"Lureen, I want to get a divorce." Lureen audibly sighed over the phone and he heard her fingernails tap on the desk.

"Well, I guess I should have seen this one coming. So, who's moving out of the house, you or me?"

"Me. I'm starting a ranch up in Wyoming with Ennis Del Mar."

"You going to tell Bobby or should I?"

"I have to come home and get a few things. I'll tell him then."

"I can get our lawyer to draw up the paper work in a couple of days. We can split the money even since there's more than enough for each of us in just one half. Anything else you want besides your truck and the few things you're coming to get?"

"No. I don't need anything else."

"You really do love him, don't you?" Jack paused and stared at the writing on the phone. He didn't really read the words, just stared at the indentations in the metal. He gently touched the indentations in the metal with his fingers and felt the permanence of them. He wondered if his heart had similar indentations on it that read "Ennis Del Mar".

"Yeah, Lureen, I think I do." There was another long pause over the phone.

"Well, when do you think you'll be down to get your stuff?"

"Probably this weekend. Ennis and I need time to figure some things out together. The ranch, the house we're going to build, all of that stuff."

"All right, well, call me before you come down."

"I will."

"Take care, Jack."

"You too." Jack heard the phone click, but he still stood there with the receiver to his ear. After a few more seconds he put the receiver in the cradle and stared at it for a moment.

"Good bye, Lureen," he said quietly. He got back into the truck and drove back to Ennis's house.

Jack pulled up in front of Ennis's house and put the truck in park. He stared at the house through the rain that had started again. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his forefingers and hid his face in his hands. He wondered why he was crying. It wasn't sadness and defeat. It was relief. He was free to be with Ennis now. That unto it's self was almost scary. He heard another truck pull up and looked over to see Ennis looking at him from the window of his truck. Jack was quickly wiping the tears off his face when Ennis got out of his truck and slowly walked through the rain to the passenger door of Jack's truck and just as slowly got inside of the truck and calmly shut the door.

"Hey there," said Ennis quietly.

"Hey," said Jack sniffing and wiping away the errant tear. Jack put his hand down on the seat of the truck. He felt Ennis gently slid his hand palm up under Jack's and let their fingers interlace.

"So, you make all the phone calls today?"

"Yeah, the ranch is ours. The twin horses are ours. And I'm divorcing Lureen." Ennis nodded.

"How did she take it?"

"She wasn't surprised I think. She wasn't really happy, but she wasn't surprised either."

"So, she wasn't upset or nothin'?"

"No. That's the weirdest part really. She was just like, all right, I'll call the lawyer and get the paper work started, come get your stuff soon, and have a great life."

"Does she know that we're..."

"Yeah... I think she always knew somehow."

"Do you think she'll tell anyone?" Jack put a lid on his temper that he wanted to unleash at that moment. He didn't want to fight. He felt too relieved and happy to fight.

"I seriously doubt it. These days she likes to keep all business to herself that she thinks might embarrass her or the family. The whole divorce thing she'll just do it real fast, say that we grew apart, and..." Jack felt tears in his eyes once again. "I just... I can hardly believe that she's just letting me go. It's a relief. But I just..."

"Jack, you were married. Believe it or not I did feel bad when Alma and I split. But in the end, it was the best for all involved." Ennis lifted Jack's hand to his lips and he gently kissed the back of Jack's hand. "C'mon cowboy, let me take you inside. I'll make you something for dinner."

"Please don't say beans." Ennis chuckled lightly.

"No, I've got some soup we can have. Chicken noodle I think."

"Ok..." Ennis leaned over to Jack and gently kissed him on the lips. Then he opened the passenger door and pulled Jack out of the truck with him. Once inside, they both shed their coats and hats and hung them on the coat rack. Ennis handed Jack a beer and opened one for himself. He pulled out a pot and pulled down two cans of chicken noodle soup from the shelf. After emptying the contents of the cans into the pot, adding some water, and turning on the heat he sat down next to Jack on the couch.

"I told them I was quitting today. They're going to let me work out the two weeks. I figure I can pack up what I want to take from here, sell off everything else."

"I'm heading back down to Texas this weekend to take care of everything. The divorce papers, get the money, pack up what I need, and then get out of there and come back here. I'll leave you the number so you can call me while I'm there." Ennis nodded along.

"We should put together a list of things we need and I can gather up most of it this weekend. I got to have something to do while you're not here." Jack nodded as well. Ennis got up and stirred the soup a little. "Soup's gonna be ready in a few minutes." Jack moved from the couch to what had quickly become his chair at the table. He watched the rain falling outside and wished that the sun was shining. He barely noticed when Ennis set the bowl of soup down in front of him. He only really noticed when the steam coming up from the bowl gave his cheek the ghost of a touch and brought with it the comforting smell of chicken broth. The two men ate their soup in silence.

After dinner, they sat down and made up a list of everything they needed for the new place down to the case of whiskey that needed to be picked up from the liquor store. Once they were done, Jack put the list up on the refrigerator with a magnet.

"It's weird," Jack muttered quietly.

"What is?" said Ennis. Jack smiled.

"Boy you have ears like a hawk."

"Have to."

"I can't believe... that this is all happening so smoothly. I keep expecting people to back out on their deals, cause trouble, for you to change your mind."

"At this point, do you really think that I can go back? To what?"

"I don't know Ennis. Back to work, back to... anything." Ennis took in a deep breath and made his temper soften.

"All right, I'll admit I've stalled on you before. I'll admit that I'm only at my happiest when I'm with you and even knowing that I've still stalled on you. But you know me. I make up my mind to do something and then I'm set. Believe me Jack, I'm with you on this one." Jack turned to look Ennis in the eye and could see the conviction in his lover's expression. Ennis finally turned away and lit a cigarette. Jack went into the bedroom but left the door open. He stripped himself of all his clothes and then climbed underneath the covers. Ennis stayed in the living room and finished his cigarette. After putting it out in the ash tray he turned out the light and walked into the bedroom. He gently closed the door behind him and stared at Jack lying on the bed in the dark. He pulled off his boots and then stripped off the rest of his clothes. He slipped under the covers and gently spooned up behind Jack.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

"I don't know... call it paranoia I guess. Things start going right for me and then I'm suddenly worried that things won't be all right. I keep waiting for something to happen."

"That's usually the way I am."

"I know. Sunshine is always shining in Jack Twist's world until sun actually does start shining and then he starts worrying about the chance of rain." Jack felt Ennis cuddle closer to him if it was even possible and the arms he loved hold him tighter. One hand went to the arm around his shoulders and the other to the hand resting on his stomach.

"It'll be all right," said Ennis quietly. "We'll be all right. Once we get up to Brokeback, we start work on the ranch, start building our house, wake up in the morning and watch the sun shine hit the side of the mountain, and then everything will look better. It will all look easier from up there."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know. Everything that we need to take care of will be taken care of. We'll be together on the mountain again. Only things we'll have to worry about are ranching, getting supplies from town, and each other." Jack let himself smile at the idea of things being so simple all over again. Soon they were asleep to the sound of the rain outside.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback mountain

To all who have left me reviews, I thank you so so much! I was so nervous about starting this one and worried that no one would like it at all. But I thank you tremendously!

a kiss or two in here, but not much more. this is more just about the trip back to Texas.

* * *

For Jack and Ennis, the week seemed to fly by. They spent their days talking, laughing, drinking, planning, packing, and having sex just about every night. Jack decided that he needed to leave for Texas on Friday so he could get everything done. Of everything, the conversation he was going to have with his son was the one thing that bothered him the most. How was he going to tell his little boy that Daddy was leaving and not coming back? Granted, if Bobby had been given a choice between his father and his grandfather, Jack was pretty certain that he would be left in the dust for his father-in-law.

Thursday Jack made himself a small list of everything that he had to get done by Sunday when he intended to leave Texas again and come back to Wyoming. At the prospect of being away from Ennis for more than a few hours, he began to wish that he could just forget everything that he had in Texas and run off with Ennis. He pulled out his bottle of bourbon and began sipping on it while chain smoking. Maybe this was the one bad thing that was supposed to happen. He would have to leave Ennis for a couple of days in order to be with him forever. He lost track of the time and didn't even notice that Ennis had gotten home until Ennis was standing in the doorway.

"What are you getting drunk for rodeo?" Ennis asked calmly.

"Yeah," said Jack slowly, "I just now realized that I'm leaving here tomorrow morning... and I won't be back here until late Sunday night most likely." Ennis nodded slowly. "I don't know... when I left Texas I thought that I would be able to leave there and never have to go back again... somehow." Ennis sat next to Jack on the couch. Jack at first tried to keep from touching Ennis. He feared that being so close to the one he loved just before he had to leave him would hurt worse than he could imagine. Ennis took the bottle from Jack's hand and took a long sip.

"You have to leave early in the morning you know. Can't have you driving back hung over." Ennis took another sip before screwing the top back on the bottle.

"Would come with me? You could take off and we can stay in a hotel."

"Jack... I have work tomorrow. And you know that if I come with you... things could get messed up real bad."

"I don't care. I just want you to come with me."

"I'll call you tomorrow night to make sure you got there all right. You'll be back here before you know it."

"I..."

"I know, Jack. I know." Jack closed his eyes and wished that Ennis would change his mind. He felt Ennis's gentle hand on his back and he prayed that he didn't have to leave the next morning. "C'mon rodeo, let me get you to bed. It's nine and you have to be up at five. You still have time to get enough sleep." Jack felt Ennis stand and he knew that Ennis was holding out his hand to him to help him stand. Jack reached out blindly for the hand and quickly found it. Ennis pulled him to his feet and he stumbled into Ennis. "Easy friend, easy," said gentle words in his ear. Leaning on Ennis's strong frame he felt himself being led into the bed room. He undressed himself and crawled into bed with a sigh. It was when Ennis got into bed next to him and held him that he finally felt a calm fall over him. It was just three days. He could live through three days as long as he kept this one feeling in his head. The feeling of Ennis holding onto him.

The next morning Ennis woke Jack up while it was still dark.

"C'mon Jack, it's time to get up," said Ennis's soft voice.

"Wha...?" said Jack sleepily rubbing his eyes. Ennis was all ready dressed and Jack could smell coffee.

"It's time to get up. You have enough time to get dressed and have some breakfast before you go." Jack nodded and Ennis returned to the kitchen. Jack stared at the suitcase sitting on the floor for a few seconds before he got dressed and walked into the kitchen. Ennis had all ready put a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and bacon at Jack's place at the table. Jack sat down and quickly ate and drank the coffee. After his second cup he started feeling a bit more human. He put his dishes in the sink and went into the bed room. He picked up his suitcase and walked back into the living room. Ennis was waiting for him there next to the coat rack.

"Put down the suitcase Jack," he said quietly. Jack did it. Ennis slowly took a step forward so that the two were a hair's bredth apart. He gently touched Jack's cheek and kissed him gently. Jack closed his eyes and wished that he could remain forever in that kiss. The kiss ended far too quickly for either of them and they stood silent with their foreheads touching for a moment. "You'll be back soon," said Ennis quietly. Jack nodded gently. With one last kiss Jack put on his coat and black hat and walked out the door. Ennis watched him get into the truck and drive away from the window. Ennis took into a deep breath and let it out just as slowly.

Jack drove away and would glance back at Ennis's house in his rear view mirror every few seconds until he couldn't distinguish the house from all the others he had passed. He drove until ten in the morning when he called Lureen and let her know that he would be there that afternoon. She told him that he lawyer all ready had the divorce papers ready and that he would be back in time for everything to be finalized. She said everything so calmly and automatic like a machine. Jack was wondering to himself if it was just as much of a relief to her to be done with this mairrage as it was to him.

When he got to Texas it was the early afternoon. He drove to their house first where Lurren, Bobby, and his father-in-law were all waiting for him.

"Hey there Jack," said Lureen calmly as he walked through the door. The smile on her face seemed genuine enough. But it was the look of triumph on his father-in-law's face that made him resent everything the most.

"Well now," said his father-in-law, "let's get this whole thing over with. These are the divorce papers. If you can sign them, then I can get them over to the courthouse and have everything finalized for you two." The divorce papers were sitting on the table in front of Lureen. He calmly sat down next to her and read over everything.

"You get half the money and your truck like we discussed," she said calmly as he read over everything. "Anything of yours that you want to get is fine by me. Bobby can come visit you in the summers."

"Why would I be visiting Daddy?" Bobby asked.

"Because your Daddy won't be living here anymore," said his father-in-law matter of factly.

"Why?"

"It's complicated Bobby," said Jack calmly. "Basically, your Momma and I have decided to not be married anymore. We're still your mom and dad, and we still love you very much. We just think it would be best if the two of us didn't live together anymore."

"But..." Bobby's eyes started tearing up. "But I don't want you to go."

"I'm sorry, Bobby," said Jack gently. "But you can come visit me during the summer. I'm going to own a ranch up in Wyoming near Brokeback mountain. You can come ride horses, help herd the cattle, anything you want."

"I don't want you to go..." he repeated. "I don't want to visit you in Wyoming. I want you to stay here."

"I'm sorry, Bobby. It's just not going to work out between me and your mom anymore." Bobby ran up to his room and slammed the door. Jack felt a stab in his heart for hurting his only son so badly. But he knew that staying here and making Bobby's and Lureen's life a misery would probably be worse than what he was doing now. He calmly picked up the pen on the table and signed all the pages he had to sign. Once he pushed the papers away from him, his father-in-law snatched up the papers without and word and marched out the door.

"Well then," said Jack quietly, "I guess he's happy that I'm finally out of his life."

"You know my father. He never does make a secret about how he feels about anyone. One of his great flaws."

"I don't know if it's so much a flaw as just an annoying characteristic from time to time."

"Jack, are you going to be happy up there with your friend?" Jack studied the glass coffee table in front of him and considered how to answer the question.

"Yeah, I know I will be."

"Were you ever happy here?"

"I was happy here, for a while. But... I'm sorry Lureen. I tried to deny it. I tried to let it go. But it just refused to go away. Believe me Lureen, I tried. But some things I just can't deny." Lureen sighed and pulled a cigarette out of the pack on the table. Jack picked up her lighter and lit it for her out of habit. Then he lit himself a cigarette.

"Daddy's probably going to get the money for you while he's out."

"I can get my other suitcases and pack up all my clothes and such. Would it be all right with you if I stayed in the guest room?"

"It's fine by me Jack, whatever you want to do." They sat in a comfortable silence for a while and quietly smoked their cigarettes. "Bobby's probably going to be mad at you for years over this one."

"I know. But it's either this or have him watch us fight and yell and scream and then be absolutely silent with each other for the rest of his life. I call this the lesser of the two evils."

"You're probably right. I guess this is as good of a time to tell you as any. I've found someone else myself." Jack didn't feel angry. He didn't really feel anything much beyond glad that Lureen was going to be happy.

"Does your Daddy like him?"

"Hates him. But I wouldn't have it any other way." The two had a private chuckle and smiled at each other for the first time in what seemed like months.

"Well, I guess I should start getting stuff packed up." Lureen nodded and watched as Jack went up into their bedroom.

The rest of the day Jack spent packing his things. Dinner was a very civil affair. Lureen and Jack comfortably made conversation about different subjects. Now that they were back to being friends and no longer spouses they seemed to get along a lot better. Her father came by with the money for Jack in a brown paper sack which he hid away in his suitcase that he had brought with him. Bobby sulked through dinner and neither parent really tried to break him out of it. Jack especially felt bad about everything and felt he deserved every dirty look his son gave him. He hoped that over time Bobby would understand.

Some time after dinner the phone rang. Jack picked up the phone in their bedroom and said,

"Hello?"

"Hey Jack," said Ennis's familiar voice.

"Hey!" said Jack with a grin on his face. "Damn you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice."

"I have some idea. I can guarantee you of that. How are things going?"

"Alot better than expected that's for certain. About the only person taking it hard is Bobby... which hurts more than I can believe."

"The girls took it pretty hard when Alma and I split too. I keep hoping that sooner or later they will understand that it's really for the best."

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping with Bobby."

"How's everything else?"

"Lureen has a new man, my father-in-law is happy to see me go, and I'm just packing up everything. I think the divorce is final all ready. They all ready had the papers drawn up so I just signed them and it was over. I got my half of the money today too. I guess since they've had since Monday to plan all this out I shouldn't be surprised."

"How are you?"

"I miss you." Jack heard his voice break slightly. The prospect of sleeping alone tonight was something that made him feel physically cold.

"I miss you, too," replied Ennis with a similar breaking sound in his voice.

"I'll get everything else together tomorrow and then head out Sunday morning."

"I'm going shopping for everything that we need tomorrow. I'll gather up most of what we need." There was a silence over the phone that said everything they didn't need to say.

"Well, let me get back to this packing. Would you call me tomorrow night?"

"Sure. I'll let you know what all I got."

"I'll see you Sunday."

"I'll see you then Jack." There was another pause before Ennis put down the phone. Jack put the reciever back down on the cradle and stared at it for a while. Sunday seemed so far away from where he was sitting.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain...

So a nice surprise awaits Jack in this one. Then we go back to Wyoming and things get moving from there... hopefully...

* * *

Saturday Jack spent packing up once again. Lureen helped him part of the day with sifting through their closets and boxes. During all the packing, Bobby walked in to the room.

"Hey there little man," said Jack trying to sound cheery. "What do you need?"

"What did I do?" he asked.

"What?" said Jack looking up in confusion.

"What did I do to make you leave?"

"Oh Bobby, no. You didn't do anything."

"What do I need to do to make you stay?"

"There isn't anything you can do to make me stay Bobby. But you didn't do anything to make me leave either. Bobby I hope you will understand why I had to do this one day. I know you don't understand now, but I hope you will understand one day."

"Why can't you stay?"

"Bobby your mother and I don't get along anymore. If I stayed then I would be making yours and your mother's lives very difficult. It doesn't seem like it now, but it's the best thing that we can do for ourselves and for you." Bobby's face turned red and he was visibly trying to keep from crying. "Bobby, be angry with me, be upset, be everything you're feeling, but just don't hold it in." That was the one phrase that caused his son to finally break down crying. Jack gently held his son in his lap and rocked him like he used to do when he was little. Jack felt terrible that he made his son feel so terrible. He had been so certain that Bobby wouldn't care about him leaving. But now he knew that he really was important to his son's life. They sat together for a long time and eventually he and Bobby packed up some things together.

Over lunch Bobby didn't sulk at all and actually talked to his parents. Even dinner was a civil affair for all three. It wasn't until late that night that the phone rang with Ennis on the other end of the line.

"Hey rodeo," said Ennis when Jack picked up the phone.

"Hey cowboy," he said sitting down on the bed he and Lureen used to share.

"You got everything ready?"

"Yeah, I guess. Loading all of this up in the truck is going to be a bear."

"Is it all going to fit?"

"Yeah, it will all fit. Just boxes of clothes and a few books and my saddle and such like that. Tomorrow I make the long drive back to you."

"Yeah, don't fall asleep on the way back."

"I'll try not to. I miss you."

"I know, I miss you too. But do you know what will help?"

"What?"

"Go sit out on the front porch." Jack furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What?"

"Just believe me. Just do it. Go sit out on the front porch."

"Ennis... where are you?"

"Just do it."

"All right. I'll see you soon."

"Not if I don't see you first." Jack heard the phone click and he went out onto the front porch with his pack of cigarettes. He lit his cigarette and looked up and down the street but he couldn't see anyone in the dark. He sat down on one of the wicker chairs on the porch and began to wait. He wondered if somehow Ennis had left Wyoming and was coming to see him. Part of him doubted it, but still the hopeful part of him hoped he had done it. Then he heard footsteps on the empty street. Slow deliberate steps in cowboy boots that hit the pavement. Jack put out his cigarette and walked up to the front of the porch. He could barely believe his eyes. There was a figure walking down the street. Even though it was dark he could have recognized that walk in the middle of hell. He knew it was Ennis.

"Ennis!" he shouted and the figure's head immediately picked up. Jack ran down the three steps from the porch to the ground and broke into a run towards the figure that was now running towards him as well. The two collided into each other's arms and spun around laughing and smiling.

"What the hell are you doing here cowboy?" said Jack still holding Ennis close to him.

"I took the train down. I figured you could use some company on the way back." The two wanted to kiss but they could see the houses around them still had lights on so they began to walk back to Jack's house side by side.

"Thank you for coming Ennis," Jack said to him quietly.

"Well, I figured I couldn't have you falling asleep at the wheel on the way home and crashing everything. I can't run a ranch by myself." Jack smiled to himself. He knew that Ennis meant that he missed him.

"I think Lureen will let you sleep on the couch. I don't think it would be a good idea to sleep with me in the guest room."

"I figured that. When did you want to leave in the morning?"

"Around five. If you want I can take the first driving shift and you can sleep until I get too tired to drive."

"Sounds fine to me." Then two walked in silence the rest of the way back to the house.

"Well, I guess now you get to meet Bobby and Lureen. You sure you're ready for that?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Jack opened the door and walked in with Ennis following close behind. Lureen was in the living room when they walked in and she looked up at the two of them.

"Lureen," said Jack with a deep breath, "this is Ennis. My friend from Wyoming." Lureen smiled pleasantly and stood to greet Ennis.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Ma'am," said Ennis quietly and taking off his tan hat.

"He's going to go back with me in the morning. Can he sleep on the couch?"

"He can sleep in the guest room with you," said Lureen pleasantly. "I'm guessing that the two of you won't object to that." Jack and Ennis looked at each other with slight nervousness. It wasn't helped when Bobby walked in to see the three of them.

"Who's that?" he asked. Bobby was dressed in his pajamas and was about to go to bed.

"This is my friend Ennis," said Jack calmly. "He's going to help me start the ranch."

"Hey there Bobby," said Ennis.

"Hi," said Bobby rubbing his eyes.

"All right, time for bed," said Lureen ushering Bobby up the stairs. "Jack, I'm sure you can show Ennis where the guest room is while I get Bobby to bed." Jack nodded and waited until she had taken Bobby to his room before leading Ennis to the guest room. Once in the guest room and the door was closed and locked the two grabbed each other tightly and kissed each other almost violently.

"You have no idea how much I missed you rodeo," said Ennis breathlessly. "Waking up alone this morning... I knew that I had to come here to see you. My world just doesn't work without you in it." Jack kissed him once again and they embraced each other tightly.

"I'm really really glad you came Ennis. This whole thing with Bobby has just been ripping me up inside." Jack felt the tears he had been holding back stinging his eyes. "I just didn't think..."

"Easy rodeo, it's ok. No one does when they get into these things. It just happens." Ennis held Jack close and hummed to him gently.

"How is that you know how to calm me when no one else does?"

"You might as well ask me how the sun works. I don't know how, I just know that it does." Jack buried his face in the nape of Ennis's neck and gently breathed in the scent he loved so much. "C'mon rodeo. We have an early morning tomorrow. And I'm exhausted." Jack nodded as he finally pulled away from Ennis. The two stripped down to the underwear and t-shirts and climbed into bed together. Jack had been imagining Ennis holding him the night before so that he could get to sleep. Tonight he felt sleep come over him as Ennis's gentle arms encircled him.

The next morning Jack woke with the alarm clock buzzing in his ear. He shut it off as best he could and not pull away from Ennis's arms. He rolled over with Ennis's arms still around him and gently touched his lover's face.

"Time to get up cowboy," Jack said gently in Ennis's ear.

"Hmm?" said Ennis in sleep.

"It's time to get up."

"Just stay here for a minute longer."

"Why?" Ennis leaned across the bed and gently kissed him.

"That's why." Jack smiled and they gently kissed each other for a few minutes. They finally pulled away from each other and went about the business of getting dressed and packing away the things he had packed in the truck. Lureen woke up when they were taking everything outside and made them coffee and breakfast. Once they had all the boxes away they both sat down with Lureen and ate.

"Write to me about the ranch," said Lureen kindly. "I'd like to hear how you are doing."

"I will. We should get going soon. It's a long drive back to Wyoming."

"You should say good bye to Bobby." Jack nodded.

"I'll go wait in the car," said Ennis quietly. "It was nice meeting you, Lureen." He tipped his hat and walked out the front door.

"He doesn't say much does he?" said Lureen.

"That's Ennis for ya. Always a man of few words. I'm going to go up and say good bye to Bobby." Jack quietly walked down the hall and sneaked into Bobby's room. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently touched Bobby's shoulder.

"Wake up little man," he said softly. "Daddy's gotta go." Bobby's eyes slowly opened and looked up at his Dad.

"You leaving now?"

"Yeah Bobby, I'm leaving for Wyoming."

"Will you ever be back?"

"I'll probably come back for Christmas. I'll write you letters from the ranch. I'll even send you pictures if I get the chance." Bobby finally sat up in bed and hugged his father.

"Drive safe Daddy."

"I will. I love you, Bobby. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you too, Daddy." Jack gave his son one last comforting squeeze.

"Go back to sleep kid. It's early and you have time before you have to go to church to catch a little more sleep."

"Mm'k." Bobby laid back down in bed and was asleep within seconds. Jack leaned over and kissed Bobby on the forehead before leaving his son's room. Lureen was waiting for him by the front door.

"Take care of yourself Jack," said Lureen quietly.

"I will." Jack held his ex-wife one last time before putting on his hat and coat.

"I'd like to come down for a couple days during Christmas, if that's all right."

"That's fine. Bobby will like it." Both smiled at each other. "Drive safely."

"We will." Jack walked out the door and gently shut it back. He got into the truck and saw that Ennis was all ready starting to doze off.

"You can lay down in the seat if you want," said Jack getting behind the steering wheel. Ennis nodded and turned so that he was lying on his back on the seat. He rested his head on a rolled blanket that he had pulled from Jack's stuff and pulled his hat down over his eyes. Jack smiled at the familiar sight next to him.

"Just wake me up when you start falling asleep at the wheel. If I'm going to die I want to be awake for it."

"Don't worry." Jack started the truck and pulled away from the house he used to live in. "I'll wake you up." He turned onto the road and began the long trek to his new home.


	6. Chapter 6

Discalimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain.

So this is a late update, but here's the new chapter that I've been sitting on. See what you think. No sex in this one, but there are sweet moments.

* * *

Ennis and Jack arrived in Wyoming late that day. Ennis was the one driving and Jack was sleeping next to him. He pulled up into his driveway and put Jack's truck in park next to his.

"Wake up Jack," said Ennis gently rubbing Jack's shoulder.

"Are we home?" said Jack slowly sitting up.

"Yeah, we're home," said Ennis with a smile. Jack stepped out of the truck and took a long stretch. Then he turned to the bed of the truck and grimaced.

"Let's just cover all that with a tarp and just move it straight up to the ranch. Seems kind of pointless taking it all out and then putting it all back in again." Ennis nodded.

"I've got an old tarp. Give me a minute." Ennis brought the old tarp from inside the house. The two of them secured the tarp onto the bed of the truck. Once done with that they went inside. Both hung their hats and coats on the coat rack. Jack yawned and went into the bed room. He flopped down onto the bed with a heavy sigh. Ennis sat down on the other side of the bed and pulled off his boots.

"God... I don't know how long I slept and I'm still tired," said Jack.

"It's traveling. I swear, traveling will exhaust you even if you are sitting the entire time." Ennis lay down on the bed with a heavy sigh. Jack put an arm over Ennis's chest and rested his head on Ennis's shoulder. Ennis gently threaded his fingers through Jack's hair.

"I'm so glad to be back." Ennis smiled at him and put his arms around Jack's shoulders. That was when Ennis noticed Jack's wedding ring still on his finger. He gently held Jack's hand and rubbed the ring with his thumb.

"You're still wearing your wedding ring." Jack shrugged and reached for Ennis's left hand where he knew Ennis still wore his wedding ring. He held Ennis's hand and nudged his ring.

"You still wear yours. You've been divorced longer than I have." Ennis shrugged as well.

"Just doesn't feel right having no ring on my finger since it's been there so long."

"Yeah, that's about how I feel." Still both of them stared at their rings and thought of the families they had left so that they could be together. Both were simple and almost identical wedding bands. Ennis's was just a little bit thicker than Jack's. Ennis suddenly pulled off his ring. Jack propped himself up on his right elbow.

"What are you doin'?" said Jack with sleepy curiosity. Ennis lifted Jack's left hand from his chest and pulled Jack's wedding ring off as well. Then Ennis put his wedding ring on Jack's finger and Jack's wedding ring on his own finger. He laid Jack's left hand back down on his chest and put his own left hand over Jack's so their wedding rings touched. Jack blinked and stared at their hands in front of him as if trying to believe that what had just happened had happened. It was something he had never expected to happen. He and Ennis stared into each other's eyes in the dark. Jack shifted up Ennis's body and kissed him gently. He felt sleep creeping up on him and he rested his head on Ennis's shoulder and shut his eyes.

"C'mon rodeo.. can't have you sleeping in your boots." Jack grunted and shrugged. "C'mon... if nothing else I don't want to be kicked by your boots in the middle of the night."

"I don't kick in the night." Ennis snorted.

"The hell you don't." Jack propped himself up on his elbow again and gave Ennis an annoyed look.

"Shut up, cowboy," he said as he rolled off of Ennis and got undressed. Ennis did the same and then the two curled their naked bodies together. As they fell asleep, they interlaced the fingers of their left hands.

* * *

The next morning Jack woke up alone. He turned and saw a note resting on the pillow next to him. He gently picked it up and read,

_Gone to work, be back around five._

I'm glad you're home.

Jack smiled to himself and tucked the note away with the other notes Ennis had left him. He intended on hiding all these notes away in a box some day. He'd probably keep the box on the top shelf of some closet where Ennis would never look. He looked out the window and stared at the field in the sunshine. He was daydreaming. He could see himself and Ennis on horses riding off on a fishing trip. He could see them laughing about some private joke. Maybe about beans or his harmonica or something like that. He could see them smiling and riding off into a land where no one would be able to touch them again. He smiled knowing that soon they would be riding off to a land like that. They would be left alone and no one could touch them. They would have each other.

Jack spent the day planning, shopping, and packing. It didn't hear Ennis's truck pull up until around seven. He knew something was wrong when he heard the truck door slam harder than he had ever heard it slam and Ennis say several curse words. He also heard a difference in the way Ennis was walking. It wasn't different because he was drunk; he had heard that before and knew how to recognize it. It was something else that was causing Ennis to walk different. It was when Ennis walked through the door that he guessed what was causing Ennis to walk differently. Ennis had a black eye and a bloody nose. When he walked in he was limping carefully and holding his side.

"What the hell happened to you?" said Jack as Ennis walked in.

"It's great to see you too," said Ennis wiping the blood away from under his nose and landing in his chair at the table. Jack pulled a paper towel from the roll in the kitchen and held it to Ennis's nose.

"Here, tilt your head back." Ennis complied with a slight grumble. "The bleeding will stop in a minute." Jack gently rubbed Ennis's shoulder but Ennis shrugged him off. Jack didn't press the issue and just sat down at the table. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Guys at work, one of them said they had seen you in town and that he had seen you drive up to my place. I told him that you were just a friend who was down on his luck and I was going to help you with starting the ranch. I said I was going to be the ranch foreman and you one of the ranch hands." Jack nodded along and accepted the lie that he would have told if confronted by the same guy. "I said you'd just been through a messy divorce and that you had to stay with me because you had no where else to go. He didn't believe me. He said that someone saw us sitting in the same truck together. I said that didn't prove anything, guys sit in the same truck all the time. Then he said that we were seen kissing in the truck." Jack's stomach jumped and he remembered the one time they had kissed in the truck after Jack had told Lureen he wanted a divorce. He hadn't thought to look and see if there were any cars around and neither had Ennis. Ennis was the one who had kissed him that time. "I told him that whoever saw it needed to get their eyes checked. It must have been something else. I thought up every bull shit excuse I could think of. Then he punched me. And then we started fighting. The foreman brought a stop to it. The guy I was arguing with told him why we were fighting. The foreman threw five hundred dollars at me and told me to get the hell out and never come back."

Jack's heart ached for Ennis. Ennis cautiously took the paper towel away from his nose and cautiously sniffed. Jack remembered Ennis's black eye as he straightened his head up again. He got a dish towel, put a few ice cubes on it, wrapped it around the ice cubes and gently held the ice pack to Ennis's eye.

"Jesus... Ennis I'm sorry." Ennis didn't respond. He did reach out and grab Jack's left hand. He held Jack's hand to his cheek and felt the warm metal on Jack's finger. Jack wasn't sure what to do next. All he could think to do was hold the ice pack onto Ennis's bruised face and gently stroked Ennis's cheek with his thumb. He was surprised that Ennis was even letting him near him after what had happened.

"Jack..." said Ennis quietly.

"Yeah?" said Jack.

"I... really feel terrible. I want to get a bath."

"Ok." Jack put the ice pack on the table and was moving away from Ennis when Ennis clutched Jack's hand a little tighter.

"Jack, I made it into the house, but just barely." Jack realized what Ennis was saying and gently helped his lover up out of the chair. The two slowly walked into the bathroom where Jack carefully helped Ennis out of his clothes. He winced at the bruises he saw on Ennis's torso and leg. He could tell he had been kicked by boots by the scrapes that accompanied the bruises. Maybe they were even steel-tipped boots from the look of things. He sat Ennis down on the toilet and filled the bath tub with hot water. While he waited for the tub to fill he took his shirt off. Once the tub was filled he turned off the water and gently helped Ennis into the tub. Ennis winced as the water hit the scrapes on his body. But the bruises he had been avoiding were starting to feel better. Jack gently washed Ennis's back with a washcloth and gently helped Ennis clean the scrapes. In the back of Jack's mind he was worried that now Ennis was going to back out on the whole deal. In truth, Jack didn't think he could blame him.

"Jack?" said Ennis softly.

"Yeah," said Jack just as softly. He was bracing for the conversation he feared was about to happen.

"Do we have to leave for Brokeback this weekend? Can we leave tomorrow?" Jack blinked in surprise. "Or the day after? Just one more day of packing and we could probably get everything together. Would that be ok?"

"Yeah, yeah of course it's ok. I thought after tonight you were going to back out on me and go somewhere else."

"I just want to get out of this town. The only place I know to go is Brokeback Mountain and the only person to take me there is you." Jack smiled and nodded to Ennis. He gently kissed Ennis on the forehead before helping him out of the tub. Once Ennis was dried off, he gently helped him into bed and pulled the covers up over his lover. Jack finished getting undressed and then got into bed with him. He gently spooned up behind Ennis and held him from behind like Ennis did with him so many nights. Tonight he knew that Ennis wanted to be held without even being asked. Ennis tightly interlaced his fingers with Jack's and Jack held him even tighter.

"It's ok, Ennis. It's going to be ok." Ennis nodded slowly in agreement.

"Just hold me tonight Jack," said Ennis quietly.

"Of course I will, I'll hold you all night." Ennis fell asleep a while before Jack did. Jack stayed awake and watched Ennis sleep. He gently kissed Ennis on the head and settled down to sleep.

The next morning they started packing everything. The furniture that they couldn't sell off in one day they took to the Salvation Army. The house was rented but Ennis had all ready paid up through the end of the lease, so he just told his landlord that he was leaving early. They managed to get everything packed up in Jack's truck and Ennis sold off his truck to a friend. They figured that really all they needed was one vehicle to get to and from the city. That night they spread their sleeping bags on the floor of the bed room and slept in each other's arms.

The next morning they packed up their sleeping bags and got into Jack's truck. Ennis looked at the house he had been living in one last time and then turned to Jack.

"Get me out of here," he said quietly as he interlaced his fingers with Jack's on the car seat. Jack smiled, turned on the truck, and started driving to the place where they first met.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain... but if I did, God would I be rich right about now...

WARNING: gay sex, kissing, and cuddling.

So this chapter is mostly easy fluff and filler. Enjoy while it lasts.

* * *

Ennis and Jack got to the ranch that night. They carefully pitched their tent, pulled out their sleeping bags, and got ready for bed. Both of them were exhausted so they simply curled up together and fell asleep in a matter of minutes. Somehow it was more comforting for the both of them to be where this had all started and to be together.

The next morning Jack's friend came with the two horses in a trailer. They were two brothers. Both of them were solid black and but one had a white spot on his forehead. The black one was called Midnight and the one with the spot on his forehead was Star. With the two horses now theirs they began to explore their land. It was a good few acres but they weren't sure any more if they could raise cattle. It was more likely that they could raise horses on the few acres they had and get some money from that. But that would have to wait for the spring. For the winter they had enough money to get through with what Jack and Ennis both had saved up.

"Where are we headed rodeo?" asked Ennis.

"You'll see," said Jack with a smile. Ennis always wondered when Jack had that smile on his face. It usually meant that he was up to something. As they rode through the trees Ennis saw the roof of a house.

"A house?" said Ennis quietly.

"Yeah, the guy I bought it from told me about it. It's not that bad. Just needs a few touches here and there." Ennis and Jack rode up to the house and tied the horses to the porch. The house was old and hadn't been lived in for several years. But the outside walls of stone and the foundation were still good. Jack found a pile of firewood under an animal skin tarp that was still good as well. Since the weather was turning cold, they both brought in firewood and started a fire in the fireplace of the main bedroom. They got their bedrolls from their horses and spread them out on the floor. Cuddled close together they fell asleep.

The next morning Ennis was the first to wake up. He found Jack still in his arms. He gently nuzzled in close to Jack and gently breathed in the scent of his lover. He loved being here with Jack again. It was home. Even though the house needed a lot of work, not to mention a proper bed, it still felt more like home than any other place he had lived in before. Jack slowly stirred and woke up.

"Hey cowboy," he said softly. Ennis smiled up at Jack and kissed him on the chest. Jack threaded his fingers through Ennis's hair and held him a little closer.

"We should get up. We need to figure out some things with the house and-" Jack's words were stopped short by Ennis's lips on his. "Or we could just... stay here a little longer." Ennis nodded as he kissed Jack again.

"A day without you and I can't get enough of you. I hope we never have to be apart again or you're not going to be able to walk for a month."

"I'm not so sure I hate that idea," said Jack with a mischievous smile. They kissed more deeply and held each other tightly. Even during the sex that they had they never could feel that they were close enough. They finally got up late that morning. Jack and Ennis cooked themselves some breakfast on the fire that they had built up again. Both sat on the floor with cups of coffee clutched in their hands.

"Ok," said Ennis looking around. "So, what do we need to start working on?" Jack looked around the house and sighed deeply.

"Well, the porch is falling apart. The back steps look like they're rotting. There's a few holes in the floor in the living room. I haven't explored the upstairs yet, but I'm guessing there are some holes in the roof as well. I'm thinking the floor and roof should be the first things we get to. We don't need any snakes coming up through the floor during the winter looking for warmth. And we don't need the roof leaking on us all winter either." Ennis nodded along with the plans that Jack was thinking up off the top of his head.

"How many rooms upstairs?"

"Three bedrooms. Two with their own bathrooms. I need to call and get the water and power coming back up here again. I figure one for each of our kids. Your girls can share the one bathroom I'm guessing."

"They've been sharing since birth, I doubt they would mind sharing now. Besides, they'll only be here a few times a year I'm guessing."

"All right, let's get to working on the house then."

They looked at the roof first. It wasn't as bad as they had feared. There were just two holes in the roof in the room that Jack had picked out for Bobby. A few of the singles had rotted through and all it was going to take was a few nails and a few shingels that they had in the truck. Jack got on the roof and began fixed the shingels himself while Ennis ripped up the rotten floorboards in the living room. When Jack came back in, Ennis was down to his jeans and was nailing in the new floorboards. He had started a fire in the fireplace of the living room and between the light from the window and the dancing light from the fire his skin was glowing. Jack took off his boots and shirt as well and got down on the floor with Ennis and began helping him nail in the floor boards.

"How's the roof?" asked Ennis as Jack joined him.

"The holes are fixed," said Jack as he lined up a nail and began hitting it with a hammer. Ennis nodded and nailed in the next board.

"So, back steps or front porch next?"

"I'd say the front porch. The back steps aren't that visible. But I think we're just going to have to pull down the whole front porch and rebuild it from scratch."

"It can be done." Jack nodded. When they were done with the floor boards, they laid on the boards they had just put in and smoked cigarettes and talking about their kids.

"What was Junior's first word?" asked Jack.

"Mama. Francine's took the cake though. She said No no." Jack chuckled.

"Was she always getting into stuff?"

"Oh yes... things you never thought a kid could get into. What about Bobby? What did he say first?"

"Doo doo." Ennis burst out laughing and looked at Jack with a smirk on his face.

"Boy he's all ready talking shit just like you."

"Fuck you, Ennis," Jack said with a smirk. Ennis put out his cigarette in the ash tray he had brought with him and rolled on top of Jack.

"No, I think I'd rather fuck you." Jack stubbed out his cigarette as well and chuckled as Ennis kissed him soundly. They each quickly shed their pants and were rubbing against each other as the sun went down. Ennis felt Jack's legs go around his waist as Ennis slowly slid into him. They gently moved together and kissed each other passionately in front of the fire until they were both spent. Afterwards, Jack held Ennis to his chest before they stumbled into the bed room and slept on their sleeping bags.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain... yeah...

ok... the only warning here is that this is a long chapter. I'm not really sure how it became a long chapter, but it did. And alot of stuff happens, so brace yourselves.

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The two lived through an entire week in peace and quiet. It was too late in the year to start raising horses just yet. But they had money and they were confident that they would get through the winter. They just had to get horses early next year to start getting things rolling. Their week was spent getting some old furniture and setting up their house so that it was more like a home. They had a table in the kitchen, a couple of kitchen chairs at the table, a sofa in the living room across from the fire, a couple of easy chairs, a few end tables, a few lamps, and a full size bed for the both of them to sleep in. They had also got twin beds for cheap and put one in each of the rooms upstairs that they had picked out for their kids when their kids would visit. It wasn't until Ennis received a letter from Alma that their world was interrupted. The only warning that Jack got about how the night would go was when he got back from brushing down Night. There was a large dent in the wall near the door to their bedroom. He didn't remember that being there before and since it was a hard wood wall he was certain that Ennis had split open a couple of knuckles. He looked at the table and saw a letter sitting on it still open. He saw the name Alma at the end and knew that it must have been the reason for Ennis punching the wall. He took a deep breath and picked up the letter to see what had caused his lover's current outburst.

_Ennis,_

_I received your letter that you sent. I want you to know I know what you and that Jack Twist are doing. I once tied a note to one of your fishing poles. It said, 'I hope you catch a lot of fish, Love Alma'. When you got back that note was still on the fishing pole. You don't fish on those fishing trips with that man. I don't want to think about the nasty things you do with him. And I don't want our daughters near it. I don't want you to talk to our daughters, I don't want you to see our daughters, and I don't want them near you. I don't know you anymore Ennis. I can't believe that you would do something like this and take up with another man. It's the nastiest thing I can think of you ever doing. I don't want to see you ever again._

_Alma_

Jack cringed at the words his lover's ex-wife had written and at the same time felt incredibly thankful that Lureen had been as understanding as she was. It was starting to get dark and Jack started to wonder where Ennis had gone.

"Please say the car is still there," he whispered to himself. He looked outside and groaned when he saw that the truck was gone. He knew the town was only a few miles away, but walking there would take too long. The only thing he could think of was taking the horse down to the city, but how was he going to get him, the horse, and Ennis back. That's when he realized that the horse trailer was still attached to the truck. He then quickly saddled up Night and rode into town on the horse. Since the town was so close to a lot of ranches no one really noticed a horse riding into town. He quickly spotted the truck with the horse trailer still hitched to the truck as he had assumed. He also noticed that it was parked near a bar. He sighed and put the horse into the trailer. Once he made sure that the horse was secure inside the trailer, he walked into the bar. He saw his lover sitting at the end of the bar with his cowboy hat down low over his eyes and his hand firmly clenched around a glass of whiskey. Jack knew that he was probably the last person Ennis wanted to see right now, but he was the only one who could take Ennis back home again. Jack calmly sat down next to Ennis and ordered a beer. Ennis took another sip from his glass and looked up at Jack. Jack fought down his first reaction to Ennis's bruised face which was to hold him gently and clean the cuts on his face with a wet washcloth. He looked down at Ennis's hands and found that if he hadn't split open his knuckles on the wall, he had done it on someone's face. Jack took in a deep breath and said calmly,

"Nice lookin' shiner. How'd you get that?"

"Asshole," said Ennis quietly. "Just another asshole makin' trouble."

"Really? What did this one do?"

"Yelled at me for my driving. Taught him a lesson." Jack started to sense the nervousness that everyone in the bar had around Ennis. He called down the bartender.

"Give me his tab and I'll pay." The bartender nodded and Jack could see the slight sigh of relief the bartender let out as he turned to make out the bill.

"I don't need you to pay my tab," said Ennis with a grumble.

"Let me take you home cowboy. You need to sleep this off." He paid the bartender and left a large tip before standing up and pulling Ennis away from the bar.

"I don't need to be helped either!" Ennis shouted as he pushed Jack away from him. But then he almost fell into a nearby table so Jack quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. After that, Ennis didn't grumble as Jack pulled his arm over his shoulders and gently led him outside. He put Ennis in the truck and drove them back to their ranch. He put Ennis in the house and sat him down on their couch in the living room.

"Now, just sit here and let me put up Night."

"Where's Night?"

"In the trailer of the truck. I had to ride Night into town so that I could get you. Now just stay here and wait until I get back." Ennis seemed to agree if for no other reason than he wasn't sure if he could get up on his own. Jack put Night back up in the barn. Then he went back into the house. Ennis was still sitting on the couch where he had left him. Ennis looked defeated.

"I read the letter," said Jack quietly. Ennis looked up at him at first in disbelief. Then he remembered that in his rage he had left the letter open on the kitchen table for anyone to see. Between the missing truck and the new dent in the wall Jack would have read the letter to see what had set Ennis off this time. His expression changed from disbelief to resigned. He took off his hat and sat it down on the side table. He rubbed his forehead with one hand and tried to form what he wanted to say into words.

"Of all the things she could have done to me... I could have lived with her not accepting this... I could have lived with her not liking what I was doing... I just don't care what she thinks about all of this anymore... but she's... she's..." The tears that Ennis had been fighting were finally starting to get the better of him. Jack once again noticed the cut on Ennis's eye and lip and the scrapes and bruises on his face. Jack turned to the kitchen sink and put one of the kitchen towels under the cold water. He rung it out thoroughly and sat down next to Ennis.

"C'mere Ennis," he said gently. He started to gently clean the scrape on the side of Ennis's face but Ennis pulled away. "Calm down. It's just me." He tried again but Ennis pulled away again. "Ennis..."

"What! Fucking what?" Jack knew Ennis was looking for a fight and he needed to defuse the bomb inside of Ennis if either of them wanted to get to sleep tonight. He gently touched Ennis's cheek and leaned in and gently kissed him. He finally felt Ennis relax with the kiss.

"Just let me take care of you tonight. Just let me do this. Ok?" Ennis nodded and let his eyes close. He leaned back on the couch and let his head rest on the top of the couch. Jack gently cleaned the cuts and scrapes on Ennis's face and bandaged up the cut near his eye. Then he turned to Ennis's battered hands and did the same thing. Ennis relaxed further under Jack's ministrations.

"It's because of you." Jack knew what Ennis was saying immediately.

"Which would you rather have?"

"Don't do that Jack. Don't make me choose between you and my daughters. You don't know-"

"No? I have a son remember?"

"Your wife didn't take him away from you for good did she?" The relief that Lureen had been so understanding of his choice came back to him and he almost felt guilty for how well everything had gone with his family.

"She can't do that you know. We can go to court and fight her. Besides, she has to file for sole custody if she wants to keep your daughters away from you. She didn't say that she was doing that. You have to be notified if she is going to file for sole custody and you can fight her."

"Yeah, but the reason that she wants sole custody is going to come out. And I'll loose. Her lawyer that her new husband will buy her will make us look like child molesters and perverts before he's done. And in the end, I'll loose my daughters. It's a loose... loose... loose situation. It would be easier just to give up and let my daughters make their own decisions when they come of age. Hell, Junior is going to be eighteen in another year or so and neither of us will be able to tell her what to do."

"And what about Francine?"

"Francine has been straying away from me for a while now. She's the one who took her momma's side when we had the divorce. Junior is the one who took my side. She's only a year younger than Junior, so she's about to make her own decisions too." That was when they heard a car outside. They both looked at each other in confusion and Jack walked to the door. A black fast-looking car pulled up next to the truck with a girl that Jack recognized as Alma Junior. He wasn't sure what to do as the car was put in park and Alma got out of the car.

"Hi Mr. Twist," she said calmly enough. Maybe this would go a lot better than Jack feared.

"Hi Alma Junior," he replied. He heard Ennis shuffle in the house and knew that Ennis was first wondering what his oldest daughter was doing here and what was about to happen.

"Is my Daddy home?"

"Yeah, he's home. C'mon in." Jack stood back from the door as Alma walked in with tired looking smile on her face.

"Hey there Junior," said Ennis standing and hugging his daughter.

"You been drinkin' and fightin' again?" said Alma tipping up his face to look at her. Jack half chuckled at her attitude towards him. He had to remember that if there was one person who could put Ennis in his place, it was his daughter.

"What do you mean again?" Alma looked him with one eyebrow raised. "What are you doing all the way out here anyway?"

"Momma said I can't see you anymore."

"So you came here."

"Yep."

"Junior, your momma is gonna kill me."

"No she's not. She's gonna kill me long before she comes up here to kill you."

"Does she know that you're here?"

"I picked up my keys and told her I was going to see you."

"And she?"

"Yelled, screamed, cursed, threatened, but I kept drivin'." Ennis shook his head and sat back down on the couch.

"Can I get you somethin'?" asked Jack feeling that he should give them a chance to talk without him near by.

"I'd like a cup of coffee actually."

"I'll brew some up. Bright eyes over here could use some anyway." Jack calmly walked through the door into the kitchen and started making the coffee. Alma pulled one of the easy chairs closer to the couch and sat down.

"Junior... you were just told that your momma doesn't want me to see you anymore. And you came here."

"I came here because I love you Daddy," said Junior. "I came here because I don't care what my momma says. You are still my dad. I want you to know that even if momma says you can't come to the house anymore, I intend on making a monthly trip out here to see you. If I can talk Francine into coming up with me, I'll bring her too."

"Did your momma tell you two why I can't come to the house anymore?"

"She said it's because you're living with a man and that the two of you are together. She says it's not natural and that it's nasty and against everything right."

"What do you think?"

"I knew the two of you were in love when I saw the two of you together for the first time. I figure that if the two of you are in love with each other and care about each other, I don't see what's wrong with it." Ennis felt tears come to his eyes. He had been so afraid that his daughters would shun him just as Alma had. He tried to look away from his daughter but she stood and gently kissed him on the forehead. She was gently pulled into his lap by Ennis's arms. She gently put an arm around his shoulders and one hand on his head. Ennis shook slightly as tears streamed down his cheeks. This was the scene that Jack walked in on. He smiled and backed up into the kitchen to keep the coffee warm until Alma had moved from her dad's lap to the couch next to him. Then he calmly walked in with two coffee cups in his hands.

"Here you go you two. Do you need any cream or sugar Alma?"

"No thank you." Alma gratefully accepted the coffee cup and began sipping on it gingerly. Ennis did the same thing and felt himself starting to sober up. "I should probably get going soon. It's getting late and all."

"Little darlin' you are not driving back this late," said Ennis firmly.

"Well, I can't very well sleep on your couch here or kick you out of your bed."

"You don't have to. We bought beds this week for the three bedrooms upstairs. The one at the end of the hall is yours. It's got a nice window and everything. You and Jack can take the truck into town tonight and call your momma to let her know you are safe and you are staying here tonight. She'll yell, but you need to let her know that you are safe. Tomorrow morning we'll have breakfast and then you can drive back after having a good night's sleep."

"Daddy-"

"No, I am still your daddy and right now this is the best thing for you to do. Everything will be all right." Alma gave a half smile that mirrored Ennis's half smiles. Ennis kissed her on the forehead gently and then turned to Jack.

"Do you mind driving her into town? I barely trust myself standing up right now, much less driving." Jack gave one of his genuine smiles and nodded.

"I don't mind. You stay here and get a little more sober. We can go whenever you are ready." Alma smiled and nodded as she walked outside and waited for Jack on the porch.

"That child is a reflection of you," said Jack as he stood up from his chair.

"Yeah, that's Junior for ya. Be back soon."

"I will. I promise." Ennis caught Jack's hand before he walked away and gently kissed the back of his hand. The two smiled at each other and then Jack walked outside. He and Alma got into the car with few words passing between them and silently drove into town. Alma got into the phone booth with the quarters that Jack had handed her and spent a good twenty minutes on the phone talking. Jack could see that the conversation wasn't going well when Alma started crying. He tried not to eaves drop as he slowly got out of the car and walked across the street to stand near the phone booth. Finally she slammed the receiver down on the cradle and slowly started to slide down the wall of the phone booth. Jack gently knocked on the window of the phone booth that slightly snapped her out of it enough that she opened the door. Jack stepped towards her and held out his hand.

"It's ok Alma." Alma whimpered and more tears slipped down her face. "I promise it will be ok. No matter what happens, your daddy will always love you. And you're always welcome in our house. C'mon, let's go back to the house." Junior finally placed her hand in Jack's and he gently led her from the phone booth to the truck again. He didn't ask her why she was crying and he had a feeling that he didn't have to. He pulled some tissues out of the glove box that she accepted gratefully. Then he drove the both of them back to the house. When they got back Ennis wasn't in the front room where they had left him. Jack walked into their bedroom and found Ennis showered and dozing off on his side on their bed.

"Ennis," he said gently as he touched his naked shoulder. "Ennis wake up." Ennis groaned and rolled over onto his back.

"What is it?" Ennis turned his head and saw Alma in the doorway. Years of being her father taught him when she was trying to keep from crying. "C'mere little darlin'," he said to her like he used to say when she was little and had woken up crying from a nightmare. Alma felt fresh tears stinging at her eyes as she walked to her father's new bed, sat down next to him, and buried her face in his shoulder with her father's arms tightly around her. He gently held her and hummed the old lullaby he had once hummed to Jack up on Brokeback Mountain. Jack started to feel out of place in the room and started for the living room before Alma looked up and asked,

"Where are you goin'?" Jack shrugged unsure of what the correct answer should be. "I need you to stay. I have to ask the both of you somethin'." Jack walked back to the bed and sat on the other side of the bed next to Ennis and leaned back against the headboard. Alma blew her nose on a tissue she still had in her hand and took a deep breath.

"All right," said Ennis sitting up in bed and leaning against the headboard with Jack. He knew that she was ready to tell them what was wrong now.

"I called Momma. I told her that I was here with you. I've never heard her sound so mad before. She was actually screaming at me at one point. How could I do this to her, how could I drive all the way up here to see you, how could I ignore what she said to me and Francine, how could I... how could I... how could I... just about every sentence she said there for a while started with 'how could I'. I told her that I still loved you as my dad and that I'm still going to come visit you once a month. I told her I didn't have a problem with you and Mr. Twist being together. That really set her off. Then she told me not to come back." Both men blinked hard and stared at her. Both had suspected that something like that had happened but they were both thinking they were over-reacting. "She told me she didn't want me living under her roof if I was going to be all right with you and your relationship and visiting you once a month. She told me to come get my stuff and get out of her house forever."

"Oh Alma," said Ennis gently as he took her hand and squeezed it gently. Alma started crying again and looked up at her father.

"I don't have anywhere to go," she whispered.

"Alma, what did I tell you when you got off the phone?" said Jack gently. "I told you that you will always be welcome in our house. You even have your own room here. You can stay as long as you want in my opinion."

"Daddy?"

"Alma you know I wouldn't let you be kicked out onto the street. You can still have to finish school though."

"I've only got one year left, but I don't want to go to college. I just want to work on the ranch with you guys."

"Alma-"

"Daddy, I've made up my mind. Just let me do this." Ennis shook his head and muttered,

"I know I'm going to get hell for this one. All right, fine, you're what, sixteen now?" Alma nodded. "Later than when I dropped out of school. But I warn you now. Ranching is hard work. You're going to be up early and to bed late and you'll be exhausted when you go to sleep but you're going to have to get up again in the morning to do it all again. I'll even buy you a foal in the spring to raise for yourself. It can be your horse. We'll be raising horses and selling them here. Doing that is hard and dangerous. So if we tell you to do something like get out of the way, you have to listen right then and there and do what we tell ya. Think you can do all that?" Alma nodded enthusiastically and smiled at the prospect of living with her father instead of her mother and step father. "All right... tomorrow the three of us will go with the truck and get your stuff from your momma's house and bring it all back here. I'll take you upstairs to your room and put you to bed." Alma nodded and stood up so Ennis could get out of bed and put on his robe over his sleep pants.

"Have a good night Mr. Twist," she said with a smile.

"You too. And you can call me Jack since you're going to be living here." Alma smiled again and then followed Ennis up the stairs to her new room. Jack stayed in the bedroom and stared at his boots reviewing the night's activities. Thus far he had pulled Ennis from drunkenness in a bar, calmed him down, Alma Junior had arrived, she had let them know she accepted and loved them, her mother had kicked her out, and now Alma Junior was going to be living with them. He pulled off his boots, got undressed, and pulled on a pair of sleeping pants before easing into bed slowly. He was tired from all of the running around he had done all day and now he was ready for sleep. He was just drifting off to sleep when he heard the door to their room open and shut. He felt Ennis sit down on the bed and let out a heavy sigh. The lamp was turned off and then Ennis rolled onto his side, spooned up behind Jack, and held him gently like he did almost every night.

"Thank you for letting my daughter stay here."

"It's not a problem Ennis. I wouldn't want my child kicked out onto the street either. I just did what I would do for my own." Ennis squeezed him a little tighter and kissed him on the nape of the neck.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain...

So, this is a much quicker chapter than the last one. Just getting Alma Jr. moved out of her momma's house.

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The next morning, Jack woke up early and fed the horses. He started breakfast before waking up both Ennis and Alma. All three gathered in the kitchen and ate breakfast. It was a quiet affair, mostly because any loud noise would cause Ennis to curse and then curse again. Alma was all ready used to the pattern of her father's hangovers and Jack was quickly adapting her ways of dealing with it. The basic idea was be as quiet as possible and if you needed to make a noise, you gently warned him about it so that he could put his fingers in his ears until it was over. It was going to be interesting turning on the truck Jack thought to himself. After a couple of aspirin and a few cups of coffee, Ennis was feeling good enough that when they got in the truck and turned it on he wasn't cursing about the noise. Ennis drove all three of them to the house where his ex-wife's new husband had moved them. The three of them looked at each other as they pulled up and put the truck in park.

"So, who's going to knock on the door?" asked Alma in a quiet and nervous voice. Ennis took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I guess I should," said Ennis quietly. "I'm going to have to face this sooner or-" But then they saw Francine walking out of the front door. For a moment all four of them stared at each other uncertain what to do. Ennis opened the door and stepped out of the truck first.

"Hey Daddy," said Francine quietly.

"Hey Francine," he replied just as quietly. "Is your momma home?"

"Yeah, she's home. I don't know if you want to come in." Francine didn't say any of this with malice or anger. She said it like a person just trying to keep the peace in the family that was tearing its self apart at the seams.

"We're here to get Junior's stuff. I'm guessing you know why." Francine nodded and fresh tears appeared in her all ready red eyes. Francine gently shut the front door and slowly walked out to her father. By the time her slow shuffle had gotten her from the porch to Ennis, she was starting to shake with fresh sobs. Ennis held her tightly and whispered to her,

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry little darlin'. I didn't mean for this to get so bad. I'm sorry."

"I know," she muttered into his chest. "I know. Momma's just so angry. She yelled at me so long last night. I didn't know what to say."

"It's all right. I understand. We're only here to get Junior's stuff and then we're leavin'. I don't want to fight. I just want to get this over as fast as possible." Francine nodded and both turned to the front door when it opened. Her step father was standing in the doorway. He didn't speak. His mouth twisted in a grimace for a moment and he called back into the house,

"Alma, its Ennis, Junior, and another man." They both heard yelling from inside that neither could understand a word of. "Alma, calm down. We don't need to start a fight."

"I'm not here to start a fight," said Ennis in a calm tone. "I'm just here to get Junior's stuff. Since her momma's kicked her out of the house, she's going to be living with me." He nodded slowly and turned back into the house.

"They're just here to get Junior's stuff and then go. They aren't here to fight, so please don't start one."

"I don't want to see her!" her voice said as she got closer. "I don't want to see any of them!"

"Alma, calm down. This can be done in a very civilized and calm manner. We can get this done with quickly."

"I don't want to see them!" They all heard a door slam in the house. The step father stepped out onto the front porch and left the front door open.

"Look, she's gone into our room and locked the door. I'll help you move everything." Alma and Jack had both gotten out of the truck and were now standing next to Francine. "I'm really sorry this all happened Alma. I really am sorry." Alma nodded slowly and gave him a sad smile.

The next few hours passed quickly for all five. Ennis, Jack, Francine, Alma Junior, and their step father descended upon her room and packed up everything as fast as possible in the boxes that they had brought with them. Their mother didn't come out of her room the entire time they were there and silently all five were thankful.

Once they had gathered up everything of hers, they all packed it into the truck. Junior said tearful good byes to both her sister and step father. She did ask Francine if she would come with her, but Francine felt that at least one of them needed to stay. She promised to write when she could. Alma gave her the address and they hugged each other one more time before getting back into the truck between her father and Jack.

As Ennis drove away, Jack comforted Alma so that Ennis could keep his eyes on the road. After a few hours of driving, Ennis pulled into a restaurant so that they could eat lunch. Alma went into the restroom to wash her face while Ennis and Jack got a table.

"This is getting more interesting than I bargained for," said Ennis as they sat down. Jack gave him a smile and said,

"Well, we'll deal. We haven't been living together for that long, but I knew there would be challenges."

"I don't think you were expecting this."

"Very true, I wasn't. But we'll deal. We'll get through. And sooner or later, things will work out."

"How can you be so confident?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You once held me and told me, 'Once we get up to Brokeback, we start work on the ranch, wake up in the morning and watch the sun shine hit the side of the mountain, and then everything will look better. It will all look easier from up there.' I believed you then, and I still believe you now." Jack fiddled with Ennis's wedding ring on his finger. He wanted to kiss or hold Ennis, but he couldn't where they were. Ennis smiled to himself and did the same thing with Jack's wedding ring on his finger. Alma came back and sat down next to Ennis. They ordered their lunch and then started talking about the plans for the ranch. It was odd. Their lives had managed to change so drastically in just a couple of weeks and yet they didn't seem that worried. They were a family now; Ennis, Jack, and Alma. And for now at least they seemed determined to stick together. Once they got home, all three moved Alma's things into her room and she started to unpack everything.

Jack and Ennis retreated downstairs while Alma arranged everything in her room the way she wanted it. They both opened up beers and sat down next to each other on the couch. They weren't as close as they would normally be, but neither felt that comfortable with Alma in the house; at least for now. Jack took Ennis's hand and their fingers interlaced. They both looked at each other and smiled. Jack tilted his head and heard faint music coming from Alma's room and Alma singing along. He leaned across the space they had made and gave Ennis a quick and tender kiss on the lips. Both smiled again. They would get through it. They would deal.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain

a kind of mushy chapter that I just had in the back of my head for a while now. No sex, but there is kissing.

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Time passed quickly for the three. Together they tore down the falling apart front porch and started work on a new one. Alma quickly got used to working a lot. The friend who had sold them the horses had a foal whose mother had died giving birth to her. He had several horses and didn't have the time to take care of the foal, so he sold her to them and she became Alma's horse. She was a chestnut mare that Alma named Savannah. She woke up every morning, fed the foal, ate breakfast, helped build the porch, took care of the foal, and cleaned out the stables. Jack and Ennis spent most of their time either building the porch or building fences to make corrals for the horses. Alma had taken over most of the cooking for all of them. It was close to Thanksgiving time that their first major scare happened.

The three were riding out on the ranch to check the fences when Jack's horse got spooked by a snake. Midnight bucked and threw Jack from his back and both Ennis and Alma watched in terror as Jack flew through the air. Jack tried to turn so that he could land on his feet but only managed to get one foot underneath him. He landed on his left foot and they all heard a sickening crack as blood appeared on his left pant leg and the rest of him fell on his left side. Alma was riding on Star with her father and she quickly got down and got Midnight under control. Ennis also got off and shot the snake. Star and Midnight were both startled but Alma managed to keep them both under control. Ennis quickly went to Jack's side and touched him gently.

"Jack? Tell me what's wrong."

"My leg..." Jack managed to gasp out. Ennis lifted his pants leg and saw the white bone sticking out of the skin.

"Alma, ride back to the house and get the truck," said Ennis tossing Alma the keys. "Bring it out here. Then we'll take Jack to the hospital." Alma nodded as she caught the keys. She quickly mounted Star, took Midnight's reins in her hands as well, and rode the two of them back to the barn as fast as she could.

"Am I that bad?" asked Jack.

"The bone's sticking out of the skin," said Ennis as he rolled up Jack's pant leg. Jack groaned and laid back on the ground. "I'm going to have to bind it as best I can so you don't bleed to death on the way to the hospital." Ennis pulled off his coat and his button-up shirt and began to rip the shirt into strips. Ennis tried to gently straighten out Jack's leg but Jack yelped in pain. "Stay still. You have to stay still."

"You try doing this!" Jack's hands were in tight fists and tears of pain stremed from his eyes. Ennis gently took Jack's hand in his and squeezed it tightly.

"Listen to me Jack, don't think about anything else but listening to me. Go to a memory in your mind. Just go to our second night up on Brokeback. I was sitting by the fire and you were in the tent. And I wanted to be with you again. I got up and walked into the tent." He touched Jack's leg again and when he didn't get as strong a reaction he slowly began to bandage it.

"I was so worried that we weren't going to be friends anymore," said Jack in a whisper. "I was so scared that I had lost you. That was when you..." He paused to wince for a moment as Ennis pushed the bone back in and wrapped the bandage around the main part of the wound. Then he continued talking. "When you walked into the tent. You looked so scared."

"I was scared. I was terrified."

"I knew that I just had to make you realize that I wanted you too. I took your hat away from you. I touched your face and you looked like you were going to flinch away but you didn't. You fought against yourself and I could see the whole battle written on your face. It broke my heart. I wanted you to know that everything would be all right." Ennis remembered what happened next and saw Jack grinding his teeth. He had to keep Jack calm.

"And then you kissed me."

"I kissed you. And that was when I knew." Ennis was almost done tying on the bandage and looked up at Jack's closed eyes and almost serene face except for the light lines of pain.

"Knew what?"

"That I loved you." Ennis looked up at Jack as he put in the last knot. "I love you, Ennis."

"I know," said Ennis gently. He gently touched Jack's forehead and Jack opened his eyes. "I love you, Jack." Jack felt tears in his eyes but not from pain. Ennis gently leaned down and kissed Jack on the lips before helping Jack up to his feet. Alma soon came barrelling across the grass in the truck with a look of white terror on her face.

"It's all right dumplin'," said Jack as he climbed into the car and calling Alma by his favorite pet name for her. "I'm still alive." Alma moved to the middle and let her father get in behind the steering wheel. Jack winced and cursed as they hit bumps in the road and Alma tried to keep him as steady as possible. Once they got on the road though, everything was a little easier. They quickly drove him to the hospital and the docs took him in quickly. Jack had to get stitches and a cast put on. It wasn't until hours later that Jack was limping out of the hospital on crutches. Ennis and Alma took him home and immeadiately put him in one of the easy chairs that had a fold-out foot rest. Ennis sat with Jack while Alma made dinner for them.

"You scared me Jack," said Ennis quietly. Jack looked up at him through a haze of pain killers.

"I didn't mean to you know."

"I know. But I was scared..." Ennis reached out and took Jack's hand in his. "And I meant what I said."

"I meant what I said, too." Jack squeezed Ennis's hand reassuringly and the two stared into the fire until Alma told them that dinner was ready. Alma had put the spaghetti and meat sauce on plates and onto trays that they were able to easily balance on their knees. Alma sat between them on the floor and stared into the fire with them. All three remained silent as they ate slowly. At some point Jack fell asleep and Alma gently took the plate off of his lap. Ennis thought it best to just leave Jack where he was. So they pulled a thick quilt over him and put another log on the fire. Alma went up the stairs and went to bed. Ennis wasn't sure if he was going to be able to leave Jack alone in the living room. So he settled down in the other easy chair and was soon asleep.

In the end, it was a lucky thing that Ennis had stayed with Jack in the living room. Jack had a nightmare in the middle of the night. He felt himself falling and Ennis wasn't able to reach him. His leg hurt so badly. When he woke up, his leg was hurting again and he was moaning loudly. He heard the clink of a glass and a medicine bottle being shook.

"Here ya go buddy," said Ennis who was handing him two pills, a glass of water, and was holding a peanut butter sandwhich in his hand. He swallowed down the pills.

"What's the sandwich for?"

"It's best you take those with some food." Jack nodded and ate the sandwich without another word. "I guess it's a good thing I decided to sleep in here with ya."

"Yeah... it's more comfortable than the bed with this cast and all." Ennis nodded and took the empty glass from Jack once he was done with it. "I'm sorry..." said Jack so faintly that Ennis almost didn't hear him.

"What?"

"I said, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That I won't be able to help with the ranch for another month or so."

"It's all right. Alma and I can make it. The fences are done. There's still work to be done on the porch, but that doesn't have to be finished right now. It can wait or go slow. Whichever works best."

"I just don't want to feel like I'm being a burden on you and Alma."

"We'll be fine Jack. A few weeks and you'll be right as rain. Besides, it's not near time for anything else we need to do. What are you so worried for? It's just a broken leg. You'll be good as new in no time."

"I don't know. This is just all so new and fragile right now. I don't want anything to mess it up. I don't want to mess this up."

"You won't, I promise. We'll be fine." Ennis gently kissed Jack on the forehead. "Now go back to sleep. All you need to worry about right now is getting better. After that, we'll figure it out." Ennis settled back down in his chair and pulled the blankets back up over himself. Jack was all ready drifting off to sleep and he hoped that he was going to sleep through the night. Ennis stared into the fire and began to slowly convince himself that everything would be all right. If all three of them stuck together, they would be all right.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain...

A coupld of kisses, and Thanksgiving at their new ranch. Another rather mushy chapter. I'm going to write the Christmas one soon though.

* * *

On Thanksgiving Day, Alma was working furiously in the kitchen. She had spent part of the day before getting groceries and was now making Thanksgiving dinner for her father and Jack. Both had told her that it wasn't necessary, but she had insisted. She knew that they couldn't go to her mother's house. Texas had been an option, but Jack didn't want to go there without Ennis and Alma and he wasn't sure how L. D. would react. They ended up agreeing on staying home because of Jack's broken leg. His leg was still hurting now and again. After going to the pay phone in town to call Lureen, Jack sat in his chair all day and took his painkillers immeadiately. He slept most of the day that day. Today Jack simply watched Alma making the dinner with mild interest. She was cooking a some venison for the main course that her father had brought home. She was also making dressing and candied yams.

"You doin' all right dumplin'?" asked Jack when she accidentally burned her hand on a hot pan.

"I'm all right Jack," said calmly with a shake of her head and then held her hand under the cold running water. "It's just a light burn. Nothing to be worried about." She immediately turned back to the dinner she had been making. Jack pulled himself up from his chair and put his crutches under his arms.

"I'm going out to smoke on the porch," said Jack.

"You can smoke in here you know," she said in a distracted voice.

"Nah, I think you need some time without me or Ennis looking over your shoulder." Alma smiled at him gratefully and opened the door for him. Jack went out on the porch that they had been building. The floor of the porch was done. The roof was the only thing left to be built. They had three wooden chairs out on the porch. Jack arranged himself so that he was sitting in one of the chairs with his broken leg propped up in another chair. He lit a cigarette and pulled his jacket a little tighter around him. He knew that Ennis would be home soon. Ennis had gone out to work on the fences. The weather was cold and Jack thought it might snow soon. That was when he saw Ennis walking to the house from the barn.

"Did Junior kick you out?" Ennis asked.

"Nah, kicked myself out. She was starting to get too nervous with me sitting there watching her every move. I think it would be best if we gave her some time to finish dinner." Ennis nodded and pulled the other chair over next to Jack and sat down facing Jack. "How's the fence coming?"

"Comin' along. Should be done soon."

"Looks like it might snow soon." Ennis looked up at the grey sky and nodded.

"It's possible. Mountain weather and all." Jack reached out and took Ennis's hand in his. As time had passed they had gotten more comfortable being at least a little affectionate around Alma. Alma had never said anything about it.

"So, what do you want to do for Christmas?" asked Jack.

"Well, I was hoping that Francine could sneak away for at least a day to come see me and her sister. I may have to enlist the help of my ex-wife's new husband."

"I did say I wanted to go visit Bobby in Texas." Jack shifted his leg and tried to get more comfortable. "But with the way this thing is healing so slowly I seriously doubt that I'll be able to do that."

"He can come up here with his momma." Jack looked at Ennis with a raised eyebrow.

"You sure about that Ennis?"

"Yeah, I mean, our kids have to get to know each other at some point. Might as well do that at Christmas. Maybe Lureen can pick Francine up on her way up here."

"I guess we wouldn't be able to do this on Christmas Day. Alma will probably want Francine home."

"Ok, December 27th. That way Bobby can still have Christmas with his grandparents and Lureen won't have to drive fourteen straight hours. She can pick up Francine and bring her up here. They can spend a day or two with us. Then go back home again." Ennis smiled at Jack with a slightly nervous smile.

"Yeah, simple, that's one thing this family is not."

"I've never met a simple family. There's always something that is different or someone who has to be handled or some conflict going on somewhere in the family. This will never be simple. But we can deal with it as easily as we can." Jack shivered and winced again.

"C'mon, let's get you inside," said Ennis standing up. Jack started to reach for his crutches, but then Ennis leaned over and easily lifted Jack in his arms. Jack reached down, turned the door knob, and opened the door. Alma looked up as she was setting the table and laughed at the scene the two of them made.

"Little darlin', we're home!" said Ennis with a grin on his face. He gently sat Jack in his usual chair at the table and set up his leg in another chair. After fetching the crutches from the front porch and leaning them up against the wall, Ennis sat down across from Jack and Alma gave them each plates laden with food. Then she put down her own plate and they sat down to eat. It was their first Thanksgiving together. The food was good, the company was good, and all three smiled at each other like fools through most of the dinner. They were happy. They were together. Eventually Alma just burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing for?" asked Ennis between his own stiffled giggles.

"I'm just so happy!" she said with a big grin that made all of them laugh. It was great. They had lived through a month together now. They had a long way to go. But they looked at each other and knew they could make it.

After dinner, they sat around the fire and ate the chocolate chip cookies that Junior had made the night before. She rested her head on her father's knee and he gently stroked her long hair. Jack smiled at the picture they made. After about her fifth yawn, Alma announced that she was going to bed and went upstairs. Jack and Ennis remained by the fire.

"You gonna sleep out here with me again?" Jack asked casually.

"I intend on it." Ennis pulled a blanket over Jack and then pulled another blanket over himself.

"You should sleep in your own bed Ennis. Don't sleep in the chair tonight"

"I'm sleepin' out here."

"Why don't you sleep in your own bed Ennis? You did it one night."

"And I couldn't sleep the whole night." Jack paused and realized that Ennis was serious.

"Why?"

"Because you're not there." Jack's eyes looked at his lover with an air of surprise. Jack reached out and gently brushed his fingers against Ennis's. Ennis looked up at Jack and the look in his eyes was all that Jack needed to see.

"I love you, cowboy," said Jack before he started to drift to sleep.

"I love you, rodeo," Ennis whispered back. Jack smiled and fell asleep to the sound of the fire and Ennis's gentle breathing.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain

I know, finally the Christmas chapter.

WARNING: sweet, mushy, sex scene. I'm working through all of this towards something, don't know what. But sooner or later, this will get better.

* * *

Christmas was here. Jack had all ready made arrangements with Lureen and Bobby. They would be arriving on December 27th which was a Friday and staying for the weekend. Lureen promised that on the way to their ranch they would stop and pick up Francine. Junior had managed to catch Francine while in town and she was telling her mother that she was staying with friends for the weekend. Lureen was supposed to be the family friend of the friends she would be staying with. Jack was still limping around a bit but the cast had come off and he could get around pretty well with a cane. The porch was done, but now snow was always on the ground and the three inhabitants of the house stayed in most of the time.

On the morning that everyone was going to get there, Ennis was standing out on the front porch. He had been nervously pacing throughout the house for the past hour and now he was out on the front porch smoking his fifth cigarette. He heard the front door open and shut and the now familiar tap of Jack's cane.

"You tryin' to freeze to death before they get here cowboy?" said Jack's easy voice.

"I just needed some air," Ennis said with his head down. Jack knew that Ennis was embarassed that he had been discovered. Ennis hated people knowing that he was nervous or that anything was affecting him. Jack was always the one who could tell no matter how much he had tried. Jack slowly sat down on one of the chairs and let out a deep sigh.

"Knowing Lureen's driving it's probably going to be about another hour before they all get here. Snow makes her nervous." Ennis silently nodded and lit another cigarette. "Ennis, sit down. It's going to be all right." Ennis didn't sit. He kept pacing. Jack slowly stood while Ennis's back was to him and walked towards Ennis. He gently put an arm around Ennis's waist. Ennis relaxed against Jack's body, let his eyes slip closed, and his chin rest on his chest. "It will be all right. It's just three days. It will be better than you think."

"I can't help it Jack."

"I know. We'll survive." Jack still stood with him for a while. "Do you want to go back inside?" Ennis took Jack's hand in his and gripped it tightly.

"Stay with me... a little longer?" Jack gently nuzzled Ennis's neck.

"Of course I will. Don't worry, I'll never leave you. I love you too much to leave. All you ever have to say, is stay. Just ask me to stay and I'll stay with you forever."

"How do you know what I'm thinkin' rodeo?"

"I know you. I've known you for years now. And you're mine. Sometimes I think I've known you my entire life. I think I knew you before I was even born. Like our two souls met long before we even came into being."

"I don't know if that's right or not. But I do know one thing."

"What's that?"

"I love you. Nothing and no one is ever going to take you away from me ever again. Not even me." Jack held Ennis a little tighter in response. They heard a car coming up the road and looked up.

"That's Lureen," said Jack recognizing the sound of the motor. Jack started to pull away but Ennis held his hand tight.

"Nothing is taking you from me again," he said quietly. As the car came into view, both of them waved to the driver of the car. Lureen smiled and waved back. Ennis moved away from Jack and went down the steps they had so carefully constructed. Lureen slowly parked the car and turned it off. Francine jumped out of the back seat and into her father's arms.

"I've missed you!" she cried as she threw her arms around her father. Bobby also launched from the car and ran to his father.

"Daddy!" he shouted as he ran up the steps and into his father's waiting arms. Lureen got out of the car and walked up the steps of the porch as well.

"Hey there Lureen," said Jack giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas Jack," she replied with a smile on her face.

"We can't thank you enough for bringing Francine up here."

"It's not a problem," she replied with a shrug. Alma came out onto the porch and the two sisters nearly knocked each other over as they hugged each other tightly. It was like they hadn't seen each other in years. For two sisters who had lived together their entire lives, months felt like years. When Ennis came back to the porch, Jack could see tears welling up in his eyes. He gently took his lover's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Slowly all of them filed into the house.

"You have a nice house here," said Lureen looking around.

"It wasn't that great when we got here. But we got it all fixed up in a couple of weeks," said Jack looking at the work they had done. Francine had retreated to the kitchen with Junior to work on lunch together. Ennis stayed back a ways and watched Jack with his ex-wife and son.

"Well, let me show you upstairs to your rooms."

"Are you sure you can make the stairs Jack?"

"It's not as bad as it was. I've actually been riding some now and again when Ennis here lets me out of the house." Ennis dipped his head down in embarassment.

"Don't worry Ennis," said Lureen. "Jack is the master at embarassing others." Ennis smiled slightly at Lureen and she genuinely smiled back. Jack led Lureen and Bobby upstairs while Ennis wandered into the kitchen and listened to his two daughters catch up. He wasn't really listening to what they were saying. But he felt tears in his eyes. He missed this. True, he had one daughter living under his roof. But it wasn't like having the both of them under his roof. Junior was the one who looked up and saw the tears flowing from his eyes.

"What's wrong Daddy?" she asked quietly. Francine turned and gasped at the look of sadness on their father's face. Ennis shook his head and turned away from the door. He almost ran into Jack as he turned around. Before he knew it he found his arms wrapped around Jack tightly and Jack was holding him just as tightly.

"Easy cowboy," said Jack quietly. "Easy, it's all right. It'll be all right."

"What's wrong?" said Junior.

"Nothing's wrong dumplin'," said Jack quietly. "Just a little overwhelming. Excuse us for a minute." Jack took Ennis by the hand and led him into their bedroom and shut the door back. He sat Ennis down on the bed and went into the bathroom. He soaked a washcloth in cold water, wrung it out, and walked back in.

"Here you go love, wipe your face." Ennis wiped the tear stains from his cheeks and held the cold cloth over his burning eyes.

"I'm sorry Jack, I just... I haven't had the two of them in the same place in what feels like so long... I miss Francine..."

"I know Ennis. There's no need to apologize. I nearly cried when I saw Bobby jumping out of the car." He gently ran his fingertips up and down Ennis's back. Ennis let the cloth drop away from his eyes and he rested his head in the crook of Jack's neck. Jack put his arms around Ennis's shoulders and held his shaking lover. "It's all right cowboy. I've got ya, we'll be all right." They could hear laughter coming from the kitchen and both smiled. "We should go-" Jack's words were silenced by Ennis's mouth covering his.

"Now we can go." They smiled at each other secretly and slowly shuffled out of the room together.

The afternoon passed easily and dinner was soon ready. They ate, talked, gossiped, caught up with their children, and laughed. Ennis was nervous in the beginning, but as the night went on and after a couple of beers he was feeling better and better. He laughed with his daughters and Bobby alike. He, Jack, and Lureen talked about safe subjects. When Bobby and Francine started yawning, the kids were sent up to bed. Lureen decided to follow not long after because she was tired from all the driving. Ennis nudged at the fire with a fire poker. Jack smiled to himself. It meant that Ennis was either trying to think of something to say or working up the courage to say something. Jack leaned across the space and put his hand on Ennis's neck. Ennis sighed and let Jack gently caress his skin.

"I've missed you, Jack," said Ennis quietly. Jack knew he meant the fact that they hadn't had sex in almost a month.

"I've missed you, too," Jack replied. Ennis took Jack's hand from his neck and kissed his fingers. Jack felt his heart beat quicker and his breath start to come quicker. It just wasn't possible to resist the man he loved. Ennis stood and pulled Jack to his feet.

"What have you got in mind cowboy?" Jack asked as Ennis pulled their bodies tightly together. Ennis kissed Jack for a moment and then lifted Jack in his arms. Jack found himself giggling at Ennis acting all chivalrous. But he was surprised when Ennis started heading for the front door. But he decided to go along with it. Ennis took him outside and started walking towards the barn.

"What is in your head?" asked Jack. Ennis just gave him a foolish looking grin. "And what the hell are you-" But Jack's words were stopped when they walked around the barn and he finally saw just what Ennis had in mind. It was a tent that he had set up on the far side of the barn. It looked just like the one that they used on Brokeback Mountain. He had cleared away the snow and the fire that he had lit near the tent was still burning. Jack felt his breath hitch and his heart nearly stop. He looked at Ennis and saw the loving smile on his face. Jack returned the smile and the two kissed each other passionately. Ennis carried Jack into the tent and laid him down on the soft sleeping bags. They kissed slowly and passionately. They slowly pulled their clothes off of each other. They relished the feel of each other's skin for the first time in what felt like forever. They were taking their time with each other. They wanted to make this time special. When Ennis finally slid inside of his lover, both hissed and winced in pain at how tight Jack had become.

"Jesus Jack..." Ennis whispered through a gasp. "You're so tight... God damn..." Jack reached up and pressed his hand to Ennis's cheek.

"I love you so much... Ennis... God..." Jack let out an inarticulate sound as Ennis slowly pulled out and pushed in again. Ennis thought he might come right then and there. With the hot tightness around him and Jack moaning and writhing beneath him, it was almost too much. But he held Jack's hands tightly and breathed deeply to maintain his composure. The two made love for what felt like a sweet eternity. Even with the cold, their cheeks were so hot they felt like branding irons on their skin. When they were both spent, they held each other tightly. Ennis pulled pants on Jack and wrapped their jackets around each other. He put out the fire with the dirt and carried Jack back into the house. They curled up together in bed and snuggled into each other's bodies.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain.

WARNING: by the end of this, several of you are probably going to hate me. But I wanted to explore an idea. Sue me. violence and cursing. Hold onto your hats and I will try to get this updated as quickly as possible.

* * *

The next morning Jack woke up first. Ennis still lightly snored next to him. Jack smiled and kissed Ennis on the forehead before crawling out of bed and limping into the bathroom. He turned on the water and stepped in under the hot water. It still felt weird having water running down his leg. He sighed, closed his eyes, and let the water run over his head and face. He was thinking about his son who was sleeping upstairs from him for the first time in what felt like years. In reality, it was only a few months. He felt his chest heaving and the tears from his eyes were indistinguishable from the water. He felt two strong arms wrap around him and pull him back towards the familiar chest. He shuddered slightly from the tears that he was still trying to hold back.

"It's all right rodeo," said the voice he loved in a whisper. "I'm here." Jack let go of his tears and cried until he felt like he didn't have tears to cry anymore. After they both showered, they got out and got dressed. Ennis went into the kitchen and started on breakfast as Jack started a pot of coffee. Lureen was the first to come down and sat down. Jack sat down as well.

"What's the matter Jack?" said Lureen. Having lived with him for a few years, she could still read his face like a book.

"I just... Bobby..." Lureen smiled with an understanding look.

"It's all right Jack, you don't have to say anything else." He grinned slightly at her and fought back the tears that were threatening to spill over once again. He felt a gentle squeeze on his shoulder from Ennis and he took in a deep breath.

"I miss him, Lureen. I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty or anything like that, I made my choice and I'm happy with it. It's just... I miss him sometimes."

"It's all right Jack, you don't have to explain to me. Believe it or not I do miss you sometimes. Like when I need a pickle jar opened." She winked at him and Jack smiled at her joke. "But seriously Jack, there are sometimes that... I do miss you. And I know for a fact that even with all my Daddy's trying, Bobby still misses you almost every day."

"Your Daddy still trying to turn him against me?"

"Every chance he gets. But he doesn't know the stubborness that you implanted in that boy. He loves you, and he's going to love you until the day he dies."

"What about you?"

"You'll always have a special place in my heart Jack. But we always seemed to do better as friends than as husband and wife."

"I'm going into town for a few minutes," said Ennis picking up the keys to the truck.

"What do you need?"

"We need some milk and that cereal that Francine likes."

"Trix. With the bunny."

"Right, that. Can you think of anything else we need?"

"Pick me up a pack of cigarettes?"

"Easily done, anything else?"

"Not that I can think of. Just come back soon."

"I'll be back in two shakes." Ennis looked at Lureen for a nervous second before leaning down and kissing Jack on the forehead. Then he quickly turned and walked out the door.

"Sorry... it's one of Ennis's things," said Jack quickly, "he likes to kiss me on the forehead before he leaves. He says it makes him think I'll stay here until he comes back when he kisses me on the lips." Lureen giggled.

"It's cute Jack. Don't worry. I told you, I've got another man now, and he makes me very happy. Even though he infuriates my father. And he loves Bobby."

"How is Bobby reacting to him?"

"He's all right. Dan is making the smart move and isn't acting like he will replace the dad that left. He just wants to be Bobby's friend, not a replacement for you."

"Dan sounds like good people. Why does he infuriate your father?"

"He's a Democrat." Jack leaned back in a full belly laugh and Lureen joined in with him. The kids came down soon and everyone started getting breakfast. The bacon that Ennis had left on the stove was ready and Lureen put it on a plate for everyone.

"Where's Dad?" asked Francine as she emptied the last of the Trix into a bowl.

"He went to get you some more cereal and a couple other things." Jack looked up at the clock. Ennis had only been gone ten minutes. He didn't think about it. Later he would wish that he had.

Ennis was going through the check out line when he heard a few voices whispering. He glanced around and saw three guys standing near by and staring at him. He knew that one of them was a farmer who lived a few miles away from his ranch. He didn't like the way they were looking at him. He paid for everything quickly and walked back to his truck. He heard the three men follow him out of the store. He put his groceries in his truck and turned around.

"Sirs, please, just let me go home," he said calmly. "I haven't done anything at all to you."

"We don't like what you do up there with that other man," said the first who was holding a tire iron in his hand. Ennis took in a deep breath and kept his temper under control.

"You don't know what I do and further more it's none of your business. It doesn't affect you in any way that I can see."

"We want to teach you a lesson," said the second. Ennis was possibly more surprised than the three men in front of him when he let out a low chuckle.

"What the hell are you laughing for queer?" asked the first one as he tapped the tire iron on his hand.

"The fact that you think this lesson you're about to teach me is going to change my ways." He only thought of Jack as the tire iron came down.

Back at the ranch, everyone was getting worried. It had been an hour since Ennis had left. Jack kept trying to think up bull shit excuses, but none of them were convincing him anymore.

"Where the fucking hell can he be?" he whispered under his breath as he stared out the window for the millionth time. A gentle hand touched his back and he leaped nearly ten feet in the air.

"Easy Jack," said Lureen's calm voice. He sighed and shut his eyes.

"Something's wrong," said Jack quietly. "I know something's wrong."

"We could take my car and go looking for him. The kids can stay here in case he comes back." Jack couldn't deny that the option was better than just sitting here waiting.

"Do you mind?"

"Jack I'm starting to get worried myself. And I know you. You can't sit still in a situation like this." Jack nodded silently.

"All right. Let's tell the kids and then we'll go into town." They told the kids quickly what they were intending on doing and then headed into town. They headed for the grocery store that they always went to and Jack's heart skipped a beat when he saw Ennis's truck sitting empty outside the store. Next to it was a small pool of blood. Jack's breathing sped up and his heart was thudding in his chest so fast. Lureen pulled up next to the truck and both of them got out. Jack looked in the truck and saw the forgotten cereal and cigarettes.

"Lureen..." he said in a shaky voice.

"It's all right Jack, we'll find him." Jack walked as quickly as he could into the grocery store and found the nearest clerk.

"What happened outside?" he asked.

"Some man got beat up by three guys with tire irons," she said in a thick country accent. "A couple of guys ran out and pulled them off him. The ambulance came and took him away about ten minutes ago."

"Do you know what hospital they went to?"

"The paramedics were saying they were going to get him to Our Lady of Mercy which is the closest one. It's about ten minutes away from here."

"I know the one." He turned back out and found Lureen waiting at her car.

"Look, you go back home, tell the girls that their dad is in the hospital and I'm going to take care of him. Tell them all I love them." He opened the truck and handed her the box of cereal. The cigarettes he left in the truck. "I'll call you from the hospital once I know more."

"I could go with you."

"I need you to take care of my kids Lureen. You're the only person I trust to do that." Lureen nodded and hugged him tightly.

"I hope Ennis is all right. I really do."

"I know... I hope he's all right too." Jack climbed into the truck and made his way to the hospital. He limped in and smiled at Lily, one of the nurses that he recognized at the front desk. She had been there when he broke his leg and had been there several times when he came in for physical therapy. Today her smile sympathetic and almost nervous. He froze after getting that smile. She stood up from the nurses station and walked towards him.

"Oh God... please tell me he's here..."

"He's here," she said nodding. "He's here." She was one of the few who knew about their relationship outside of the family and she was fine with who they were.

"Is he all right?"

"He was beaten very badly Jack. I think he's still in surgery right now." Jack felt his knees start to give out from under him. Lily took his arm and led him over to the brightly colored plastic chairs.

"Were you here when he came in?" She sat down on the table in front of him and smoothed her skirt over her knees.

"Yes, Jack. I was."

"How bad is it?"

"It's bad. One of his arms was broken, one kneecap was broken, several ribs were broken and at least one of the had punctured one of his lungs. That's why he's in surgery right now."

"Did the docs..."

"They were hopeful. They got him soon enough that he hadn't lost much blood. Once he gets out of surgery I'll let you know. Do you need anything?" Jack stared at her perfectly white shoes and managed to choke out one word.

"Him." Lily touched his shoulder and then walked away. She came back a few minutes later with a cup of coffee which she sat down in front of him. Jack sipped on it gingerly and continued to stare at one point on the floor. He was hoping and praying that somewhere they had done something good enough for Ennis to be spared. He remembered that he needed to call the house. He found a payphone and numbly put in the money and dialed the number. It rang only once before it was picked up.

"Hello?" said Lureen's nervous voice.

"It's me Lureen," said Jack.

"How is he?"

"He's in surgery right now. They broke his arm, his kneecap, several ribs and one of them punctured his lung." He heard Lureen gasp over the phone. "They think he'll be all right if all of this goes well. I'll let you know when he gets out of surgery. How's everyone there?"

"They're worried and scared. What should I tell them?"

"Tell them, he's in surgery, I'll call when he gets out. I'll be staying here tonight. I'll call tomorrow morning when there is more news. Tell them I love them, and that Ennis loves his daughters."

"All right," said Lureen in a voice that was starting to break.

"It's going to be all right Lureen. I'll let you know when the kids can come visit him."

"All right. I'll get dinner ready and tell them."

"I'll call soon."

"I'll be here." Jack hung up the phone and walked back to his chair. He felt his knees about to give out from under him as he neared the chair.

"I can't loose him..." he whispered as he sat down. "I can't loose him. Please God I can't loose him..." He waited for three hours before Lily returned to him.

"He's out of surgery now and is being put in a room," she said quietly.

"Can I see him?"

"Not at the moment. They're still getting him comfortable and getting everything set up. It should only be a few more minutes. I'll get you when they're ready."

"Did they say anything?"

"He has a chance Jack. It's not much of one, but it is a chance. They haven't given up hope yet."

"Thank you." She nodded and turned back down the hall. She walked into Ennis's room as the doctor was setting up the last IV.

"Do you need any help?" she asked calmly.

"Isn't your shift over?"

"It's been over for five hours now. I decided to cover a shift for another nurse."

"You wanted to stick around for him didn't you?" She looked straight into his eyes and didn't blink.

"She wanted to stay home with one of her sick kids." She was a good liar.

"Well, we've done all we can. Now we just have to sit and wait." He wrote down a few notes on the chart. "Make sure he gets morphine once an hour." Lily nodded silently and stared at Ennis as the doctor walked out. She had barely recognized him when he came in. Now with the bandages and all she could hardly tell that he was a man. Half of his face was wrapped in bandages and the other half was almost swollen beyond recognition. She feared bringing Jack into this room and having him see his lover like this. But she knew that there was no other choice. She took a deep breath and walked into the waiting room once again. Jack looked up in nervous anticipation.

"You can see him now," she said calmly. Under her calm exterior her insides were twisting and she was trying to know what to do. Jack followed her to the room. She stopped outside the door and put her hand on the handle.

"Remember Jack," she said before turning the handle, "I'll be right there with you." She opened the door and walked in. Jack limped in a second after her. She shut the door back but Jack barely heard the click. He could have sworn that his heart had stopped. He wanted to believe that the broken and bandaged form in front of him was not Ennis. He felt his knees fully give out from under him now. He cried with tears that wracked his body. He barely felt Lily put her arms around his shoulders and try to hold him. At some point Lily managed to get Jack to the chair she had placed next to the bed. Jack gently held Ennis's hand while Lily checked his vitals and gave him his next dose of morphine.

"Do you think he can hear me?" he whispered quietly.

"Yes Jack, I think he can." He took in a deep breath.

"What the hell do I say?" Lily smiled sadly at him.

"Say whatever you want to say. Say what you feel." Jack swallowed and took in another deep breath.

"I love you, Ennis. I hope you can hear me. I love you. Everything's going to be all right. Lureen is taking care of the kids right now. I'm not going to leave your side. I'm staying right here with you. Please don't leave me."


	14. Chapter 14

Yes yes, I know this is inexcusably late. Graduating college, getting boyfriend, getting dumped by said boyfriend, and now dislocating my knee cap.

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain

A few kisses and such, but that's all.

* * *

Jack woke up the next morning when Lily came on for her shift. As she changed the IV bag, Ennis moaned slightly. Jack quickly took Ennis's hand in his.

"Is he all right?" Jack asked tentatively.

"He's fine Jack. He made it through the night. I probably just hurt him a little when I pulled out the IV tube."

"Will he wake up today?"

"We hope so. It would be a good sign if he woke up today. I'll be back after I finish my rounds to check on you guys." Lily gave Jack's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then quietly closed the door behind her.

"Ennis, I hope you can hear me. I'm just going out to the phone for a minute and then I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, okay?" Jack left the room quietly and went to the phone in the waiting room. He dialed the number to their house and waited as the phone rang twice.

"Hello?" said Lureen's nervous voice.

"It's me, Lureen."

"How are things going there?"

"Ennis made it through the night, but he hasn't woken up yet."

"Would you like me to bring you some breakfast?"

"Yeah, that would be nice. I'm really hungry."

"All right, I'll be there in an hour or so. Should I bring the girls?"

"I don't know... although knowing them they have probably been asking when they can come and see their Dad."

"Yeah, both of them have been."

"Yeah, go ahead and bring them up. It might do their daddy some good to hear their voices."

"Ok, we'll be there soon. Jack? Are you okay?" Jack leaned against the wall and let out a tired sigh.

"I... I am not sure."

"I'll be there soon Jack."

"I know. I'll be all right."

"Ok. Bye, Jack."

"Bye, Lureen." Jack hung up the pay phone and took in a deep breath. He limped slowly into Ennis's room again and sat back down on the chair next to Ennis's bed.

"Lureen and the girls are coming up here in about an hour. She bringing me breakfast. And the girls want to see you somethin' fierce. I just wish you were awake so that you could see them." Ennis stirred slightly in his sleep. Jack took Ennis's hand in his again. "Please wake up buddy. Please, please wake up. I can't take this much longer." Ennis's fingers tightened around Jack's and his eyes slowly opened.

"Hey there little darlin'," Ennis whispered. "What are you doin' here?"

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Ennis's eye brows furrowed for a moment and then he groaned.

"Crap, now I remember. Those stupid guys."

"I'm sorry..." Now Ennis was looking at Jack in a confused state. Jack's cheeks were stained with tears.

"What are you sorry for rodeo? It's not your fault that this happened."

"Yes, it is. Me and my stupid optimism. Oh yeah, Ennis, we can go away and live on a ranch together and no one will touch us, no one will bother us. You were right. Maybe this was-"

"Don't say that," said Ennis suddenly tightening his grip on Jack's hand. "Don't you ever say that this was a mistake. This was no mistake. I wanted this. I knew what could happen. I didn't care. You know what they said to me?"

"What?"

"They said they wanted to teach me a lesson. You know what I did? I laughed. I laughed at them." Jack stared at him in bewilderment. "They asked me what I was laughing for. I told them, I was laughing because they thought this lesson they were about to teach me was going to make me change my ways." Jack felt tears of relief stinging his eyes now and he had to look away. "I told you Jack, nothing and nobody is going to take you away from me again." Jack smiled and kissed Ennis's hand. "C'mere." Jack hesitated.

"I might-"

"You're not going to hurt me and I want you in this bed with me because I want to hold my lover. Now get your ass up and get in this bed." Jack got up from the chair and slowly climbed into the bed. Ennis put an arm around Jack's shoulders and let Jack bury his face in his unharmed shoulder. Jack felt worlds better being next to him again. He felt himself drifting off to sleep as Ennis drew lazy patterns on his shoulder.

* * *

Lureen quietly crept into the room an hour later with a bag of food in her hand. Jack was fast asleep on Ennis's shoulder. Ennis was still awake and gave Lureen the best smile that he could. Lureen smiled back.

"Hi there," she whispered as she quietly shut the door back. "He's out like a light I'm guessing."

"Yeah, I didn't think he had a good time sleeping on that chair last night." Ennis rubbed Jack's shoulder gently. "Jack, Lureen is here. You need to get up and eat something." Jack slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes.

"Hi Lureen," he said as he slowly climbed off the hospital bed. Jack sat back down on the chair and gratefully accepted the styrofoam box from Lureen and started eating the scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast hungrily.

"Did you bring the girls with you?" Ennis asked.

"They're waiting outside. I wanted to see you first."

"I know I'm not that great of a sight, but they're going to insist on seeing me sooner or later." Lureen nodded and went to the door.

"Ok, girls, you can come in." Junior and Francine walked in slowly. Junior walked forward first and took her dad's hand in hers.

"I'm okay Junior, I promise."

"Promise?" she said in a shaky voice.

"I promise." Junior quickly wiped the tears away from her face and smiled. "C'mere, give me a kiss." Junior kissed her dad on the forehead and then stood next to Jack. Francine was still standing near the door.

"C'mere Franky, it's ok." Junior and Jack looked at each other and mouthed the word 'Franky?' Francine quickly walked across the room and buried her tears in her father's shoulder.

"It's ok," he whispered to her. "It's ok little darlin'." He gently stroked her back and kissed her on the forehead.

"I thought you were gone again. I thought..."

"It's all right honey. I'm not leaving. I promise I'm not leaving." The four of them spent a happy hour before Ennis started feeling tired again and went back to sleep. Everyone went home except Jack who stayed in his chair.

"Go home and get some sleep Jack," Ennis said before he drifted off to sleep.

"No."

"Why not? You haven't slept that well."

"I won't sleep well when I get home."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not there." Ennis felt his throat tighten and he remembered suddenly when he had said that to Jack when he had broken his leg and slept best in the easy chair in the living room.

"Then get in this bed with me. Lily probably going to be the only one coming by. And I don't really care what anyone else thinks." Jack slowly crawled back into the bed and settled down next to Ennis. He drifted off to sleep within a few minutes.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Brokeback Mountain

WARNING: gay sex, kissing, and all that great stuff.

Yeah, short and totally mushy chapter. Just don't feel like writing anything serious right now.

Kudos to everyone who is still reading... I'm trying to figure out where I will go next with this.

* * *

A few weeks later, Ennis got his casts off his arms and leg. He'd all ready been home for a while, but with the casts off he felt like he finally felt like himself. He got home just in time to see Francine, Bobby, and Lureen leave. Junior had made plans to stay at a friend's house that night so that Ennis and Jack could have the house to themselves. Once they got back to the house, Junior went up to her room and packed up her overnight bag.

"I'm gone Daddy!" she called out as she ran down the stairs.

"Careful on those stairs, we don't nee someone else breaking their leg!" Ennis called back. Junior came around the corner and kissed her Dad and then Jack on the cheek.

"I'll be back tomorrow afternoon! So, have all the fun you want!" Junior winked at Jack and then flew out the door. Ennis chuckled at Jack's stunned face.

"Did you really think it was a coincidence that she decided to spend the night with a friend on the same day that I got my casts off? Boy if you believe that, you are a dumb rodeo cowboy." Jack looked at Ennis with a devilish grin.

"So, what do you want for dinner tonight?" Jack asked coyly. Ennis raised an eyebrow, lit a cigarette, and tried to decide how long he would let this play out.

"Well, what's on the menu?"

"Well, we have spaghetti, soup, beans, and sausage."

"Sausage?" said Ennis trying not to burst out laughing. "When did we get sausage?"

"Lureen left some behind." Now Ennis couldn't help it. He starting laughing flat out.

"Yeah, sure. Don't you mean that I stole some from her?"

"I like to think it walked away from her and towards you of its own accord."

"I think I'd like steak."

"Steak? Really?"

"Yeah, I want a big thick steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and beer."

"All right. Looks like we're eating out tonight."

"Can we even afford that?"

"Yes, we can, because I say we can. Besides, we are celebrating tonight. You are finally free from the casts. And we need a night out." Jack got the keys to the truck and held out his hand to Ennis. "C'mon cowboy. Let's get us some steaks." Ennis sighed and took Jack's offered hand. He stood up and grabbed Jack around the waist. He gently kissed Jack on the lips and smiled.

"Right behind you rodeo," Ennis replied softly. They strolled out to the truck and drove to the restaurant in town. They each ordered a steak rare with mashed potatoes and gravy. Both drank beers and for a while sat in silence.

"Can't tell you how glad I am to not be lugging those stupid casts around anymore," said Ennis flexing his arms and legs. "I had a scratch for a solid week on my knee."

"Well, now that you're out of the casts we can start looking at horses to buy and getting ready to breed them." Ennis nodded.

"No more talking shop. We'll start that tomorrow. I want to enjoy myself tonight." Jack nodded.

"All right, all right. No more shop talk." Their waitress arrived with their steaks and they laughed and chatted as they ate. After dinner and a couple of scoops of ice cream, they made their way home. Jack walked through the door and was about to turn on the light when he felt Ennis's hand on his.

"Don't..." Ennis whispered softly in his ear. "Let's just go upstairs." Jack walked forward in the dark and heard Ennis shut the door. "Don't you know your way in the dark rodeo?"

"I'm not as good as you at finding my way in the dark." Ennis chuckled softly and took Jack by the hand.

"All right then, little darlin'. I'll lead the way." Ennis led Jack up the dark stairs and to their bedroom without missing a step. Ennis shut the door back and turned back to his lover.

"Now, about that sausage we were discussing earlier," said Ennis rubbing his hand against Jack's zipper. Jack gasped slightly and smiled.

"Well, I thought with that big dinner we had, you wouldn't have the appetite... for it anymore." Ennis kissed Jack gently on the lips as his hand slipped under Jack's pants.

"Oh, I'm always in the mood for sausage Jack," said Ennis watching Jack's face relax. "Especially this kind." Jack moaned when Ennis pulled his hand away from what he was doing. "Oh, don't be so impatient." Ennis unbuttoned Jack's shirt and pulled it off the body he loved so much. This was quickly followed by Ennis's shirt. These were followed by each article of clothing the boys wore until they were naked in front of each other. Ennis kissed Jack a little more brutally this time and Jack felt his pulse quicken. They stumbled to the bed and tumbled in together. They kissed, bit, scratched, licked, and above all never let go of each other. Jack finally found himself on his back and Ennis slowly thrusting into him. Jack could have sworn his fingernails were drawing blood from Ennis's shoulders. It had only been a few weeks, but it still felt like it had been forever since they had done this.

"God... Ennis..."

"Let me know if I hurt you Jack," said Ennis softly. Jack nodded and then felt Ennis start thrusting into him hard and fast. Jack gasped, moan, and finally screamed out Ennis's name. Ennis collapsed on top of Jack and they held each other tightly in a panting and heaving mass of hot flesh.

"I love you," Jack whispered in the dark.

"I love you," Ennis replied. They settled down with Ennis's head resting on Jack's chest and fell into a deep sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Yes, I know. It's been an incredibly long time since I've updated this, but I finally got another idea for it. I don't know how much longer this story will go on. But we shall see.**

**WARNING: Gay relationship. Ennis/Jack of course. Don't like don't read. Nothing big and graphic, just kisses and cuddles.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Brokeback Mountain, but damn I wish I had thought of this idea.**

* * *

Time passed quickly on the ranch. Winter went away, the earth thawed, Ennis, Jack, and Alma Junior were raising three new horses. The horses were doing well, the ranch was going well, and they hired two other ranch hands to work there. It was around this time that Jack got a call from his mother. He was walking back in after getting the mail when he heard the phone ringing. He ran forward and picked up the receiver on the third ring. 

"Hello?" he said jovially.

"Jack? Is that you?" said his mother's soft voice.

"Momma?" he said hesitantly. He could tell by the tone of her voice that something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

"Honey," she started and he could tell she was trying to keep from crying, "your Daddy died this morning. He had a heart attack."

"Oh Momma," he muttered sitting down at the table. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said trying to lie. "When is the earliest you can get here?"

"I can be there tomorrow morning. We've hired more people to work the ranch. They can handle it for a couple of days." He heard footsteps behind him and a gentle hand on his shoulder. Even without looking he knew it was Ennis. He reached with his free hand to the hand on his shoulder and their fingers interlaced.

"Will you be coming up here alone?"

"I don't know... Momma. Would it be all right with you if I brought Ennis with me?"

"Of course it would be all right honey," she replied. "I've always wanted to meet him anyway."

"I'll talk to him about it." Jack looked up to Ennis but Ennis was all ready nodding. "We'll be there tomorrow Momma. I love you."

"I love you too, Jack. I'll see you tomorrow."

"We'll be there. Bye bye."

"Bye." He heard his mother hang up the phone and Ennis took the receiver from his hand and hung it up on the phone on the wall. Ennis sat down at the table and held Jack's hand in his.

"What happened?" he said gently.

"My Daddy died this morning," said Jack trying to hold it together. "He had a heart attack. Ennis, you don't have-"

"I want to come with you. Alma and the others can handle this place for a couple of days. I'll go tell them." Ennis kissed Jack on the hand and walked out the door to tell Alma and the ranch hands who were outside working the horses. Everything seemed kind of far away and warped to Jack. He also felt sick to his stomach. He slowly got up from the table and walked up the stairs to their bedroom again. He didn't feel like facing the day anymore. He pulled off his boots and curled up in bed in his clothes. It was a cooler April morning and he pulled the blankets up to his chin. He heard voices outside and the sound of the horses trotting around. But he felt like he was in a different world. Nothing felt quite right. He heard boot steps coming up the stairs and a quiet knock on the bedroom door.

"I'm in here," he called out quietly knowing that it was Ennis trying to find him. Ennis walked into the room and sat down on the side of the bed.

"You ok rodeo?" he asked quietly stroking Jack's hair.

"Not really," said Jack shaking his head. "I don't know what to think about all this."

"There is no set thing to think about here. You take a nap, I'll pack our stuff. You want to head out before or after lunch? Either way I think Junior is going to insist on making some for us."

"I'd rather get on the road as soon as possible. Tell Junior to just make us some sandwiches and pack them up."

"Ok. I'll let her know." Ennis kissed Jack on his forehead and then started to pack. For a little while Jack watched him pack, but then he dozed off into a restless sleep. Ennis finished the packing in about twenty minutes. He put their best suits in a garment back that he had bought once long ago. Then he took everything downstairs and out to the truck. He came back in and walked into the kitchen where Junior was all ready fixing sandwiches.

"If you don't mind Junior," he said to his daughter, "could you pack a few of those away for Jack and me? We'll probably be eating on the road."

"I figured that," she said putting away some of the sandwiches in their Igloo cooler with a few bags of ice. "I put some bottles of cold water and a few beers in here too. I put some of those chocolate chip cookies I made in here too. I know Jack likes them." Ennis smiled at his daughter and patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll like what you did for him."

"I just keep thinking about what I'd do without you," Junior says looking up at Ennis. "I don't know what I'd do."

"It's ok, honey," he said putting an arm around her. "Knowing Jack he won't let that happen for a long time."

"I'm not letting it happen for a long time either." He smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"With all the people I've got taking care of me I'm probably going to live to be a hundred." He closed the lid on the cooler and took it out to the truck where he put it on the floor board in front of the passenger seat.

"I'm gonna go wake Jack," said Ennis as he walked back in. "Might as well get on the road as soon as possible." Junior nodded as she wiped her hands on a towel. Ennis quickly took the steps two at a time and found Jack sitting up on the bed.

"Everything ready?" Jack asked as he pulled his boots back on.

"Car's loaded up and everything," Ennis replied. Jack nodded and stood up. "Ready to meet far more of my family than you probably want to?"

"It will be fine little darlin'," Ennis replied walking forward and pulling Jack into his arms. "I'll be with you the whole time." He kissed Jack gently and they walked down the stairs.

"We'll be back in a couple of days Junior," Ennis said as they walked past the kitchen.

"Give me a call when you get there!" Junior shouted back.

"Will do!" They got into the truck and drove away towards Lightning Flat.


End file.
